A New Cause
by MystikD109
Summary: Naruto gets fedup with Konoha and leaves. On his journey he runs into an unexpected group and decided to join them. After several years Naruto returns, but what are his intentions and how far will he go to accomplish them? [Completed]
1. Rethinking

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately)

This is my first fanfic so reviews are greatly appreciated.

"blah" speech  
'_blah_' thoughts  
'**blah**' Kyuubi's speech  
'_**blah**' _Kyuubi's thoughts

Note: revised chapter.

* * *

Chapter 1 – Re-thinking 

It had been two weeks now since Naruto, Neji, Shikamaru, Chouji and Kiba had returned from their mission; which had been a success.

Not all was well though, Neji and Chouji were in ICU and Kiba was going to be bed-ridden for at least a month. Shikamaru's wounds weren't that bad and he was on back active duty within a week. Naruto, even though his injuries were by far the worst of the group with the exception of maybe Neji, recovered and was released from the hospital in three days.

Sasuke had recovered surprisingly fast and was now on a recovery program that consisted mostly of training, with the exception of several hours of psychiatric therapy. Of course he was under ANBU surveillance 24/7 as ordered by the Hokage.

))))) Naruto's House ((((( 

Late at night Naruto was sitting on his bed lost in thought. Since the mission had been a success, Naruto expected the villagers to actually praise him or at the very least reduce the cold stares, but that was not the case. The villagers actually blamed him for being a 'bad influence' on the Uchiha heir and treated him even worse.

'_Damn that Sasuke! He never does anything beneficial and he's still loved by everyone,' _thought Naruto angrily.

'_If anything, he's responsible for Neji's, Chouji's and Kiba's condition.'_

'_And as soon as he's out of the hospital guess who decides to train him… Kakashi, of course. Why the hell does that traitor get all the attention!_' Naruto's tone was becoming even angrier.

'_I saw that bastard not too long ago. "Dobe this and dobe that," was all he said. As if nothing even happened… AHHHHRRR! This DAMNED village is getting on my nerves,'_ Naruto was now screaming inside his head.

'**Damn it shut up kid!**' roared the Kyuubi.'**If you're so angry why don't you just kill them? Oh that's right, I forgot, you're so innocent you wouldn't hurt a fly,'** said Kyuubi sarcastically.

'_I'm not like you fox, I don't just go on killing sprees because I feel like it.'_

'**You are SO weak, you know that?**'

'_I'm NOT weak! Don't you dare call me that, stupid fox.'_

'**You know you should rebel against these people. Leave the village, leave your so-called friends; get away from all the pain they are causing you. You don't owe them anything, why should you stay?' **questioned the Kyuubi. **'We can train far away from this village, what do you think kid? I can make you really strong. So strong even the Hokage won't be able to rival your power.'**

The Kyuubi grinned evilly in his cage. '**_If I can make him leave the village it would be so much easier,_'** though the Kyuubi hoping that he made his argument strong enough for the boy.

On the outside Naruto was heavily considering the Kyuubi's offer. The Kyuubi was right Naruto didn't owe the village anything; more like the village owed him, and if this was their way of paying him back then screw them. If kind words didn't get through to them, then maybe violent actions would.

"That's right, I don't owe these bastards anything. They can rot in hell for all I care," announced Naruto. "Alright Kyuubi, lets go! Lets leave this godforsaken place!"

Naruto quickly packed up some bare essentials; a change of clothes, toothbrush, money and all of his weapons. He didn't bother packing food since he could always hunt. He suddenly noticed the necklace Tsunade had given him and his forehead protector. Naruto ripped off the necklace and threw it on his bed. However, when he went to do the same thing with his forehead protector he was stopped by the Kyuubi.

'**Kid keep that… it may be a painful reminder, but if you ever need to get back in the village it would make things a lot easier.'**

'_Yea you're right, thanks fox.'_

'**Cut it out with the that call me by my name,' **snarled Kyuubi.

'_Alright Kyuubi, will do.'_

'**Then what are you waiting for, lets get moving. Better to leave this place secretly so that they don't send ANBU.'**

Having spent all his life in Konoha, Naruto knew many ways to get out of the village in secret. However, luck wasn't on Naruto's side today. Just as he was about to jump over the northern wall, a chuunin guard grabbed him by the shoulder and demanded to know what he was doing.

Naruto's emotions ranged from shock, at being caught, to very pissed that he hadn't been able to slip out. Before the chuunin guard could raise his defenses, Naruto smashed his fist into the guard's stomach knocking him out and proceeded to quickly leave. However, he had forgotten that the guards always patrolled in pairs, thus he did not notice when the other chuunin disappeared in order to report to the Hokage.

))))) Hokage Office ((((( 

Tsunade was sleeping with her head on her desk surrounded by mountains of paperwork when suddenly there came a frantic knock on the door. She barely had time to wake up as the door burst open and a babbling chuunin burst in.

"Shut up and calm down! I can't understand a word you are saying," yelled Tsunade, who was angry at the rude awakening.

"I'm sorry Hokage-sama, its just that I just saw a ninja running away from the village," said the frightened chuunin.

This caught the Hokage's attention. "Who is this ninja?" she asked in a serious tone, afraid that Sasuke was attempting to leave again.

"Uzumaki Naruto," announced the guard.

"WHAT?" screamed the Godaime. "Send out an ANBU team to bring him back right away! ALIVE, mind you!" ordered Tsunade.

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

"And get Jiraiya and Kakashi in here."

"It will be done Hokage-sama," said the chuunin as he left.

'_I hope this doesn't turn into something serious,'_ though Tsunade, _'I hope Naruto doesn't do anything stupid, like try to fight the ANBU._'

* * *

(A/N)

This story will have a special twist either in chap 2 or 3. until then plz review.


	2. Not Coming Back

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately)

"blah" speech  
'_blah_' thoughts  
'**blah**' Kyuubi's speech  
'_**blah**' _Kyuubi's thoughts

Note: revised chapter.

* * *

Chapter 2 – Not Coming Back

As soon as Naruto was outside of the village the Kyuubi pointed out the someone will definitely notice that the guard had been knocked out.

'_Well what the hell was I supposed to do?' _countered Naruto angrily.

'**Damn it kid, I'm not saying you did anything wrong'** replied the Kyuubi with a snarl, '**I'm just trying to say that your Hokage might already know.'**

'_NO, she's not MY Hokage anymore_' interrupted Naruto.

'**Whatever, you should quicken your pace before…'**

But before the Kyuubi could finish his sentence Naruto smelled something. The weird thing was that Naruto's mind registered it as four people with medium to high amounts of chakra. '_What the hell is going on here?'_ wondered Naruto.

'**My chakra is enhancing your senses. Those people that you smell are most likely an ANBU team, looks like our escape wasn't perfect; like I suspected.'**

'_SHIT! I'm gonna have to take on four jounins!' _yelled Naruto. Before the Kyuubi could answer, the ANBU had already caught up and surrounded Naruto.

"Uzumaki Naruto," said an ANBU in a bird mask as he approached Naruto. "We have orders from the Hokage to bring you back. Please come with us peacefully, we don't want to kill you, unless it's absolutely necessary."

'_Hmm, they are all releasing substantial killer intent, but there are also traces of fear. How the hell do I know all this?'_ wondered Naruto as he processed the information._ 'Must be those improved senses the Kyuubi was talking about, but I don't have time to ponder that now.'_

"Never thought Konoha would fight to keep their precious little demon," said Naruto in a taunting voice with a slight smirk. Then suddenly Naruto's eyes and voice turned frighteningly cold. "Well sorry, I'm not going back and you can't force me, bird-man."

))))) Inside Naruto's Head (((((

"Kyuubi, I'm gonna need your help with this."

'**Obviously,'** said the fox in a taunting voice, and Naruto scowled.** "Alright, here's what we'll do, I'll give you some chakra to fight with, but if you're still losing then I'll take over,'** Kyuubi compromised knowing how much Naruto didn't like losing control of his body.

"Yea whatever, just give me back control as soon as you kill them," agreed the blonde.

))))) Back to Reality (((((

The ANBU shook a little as they felt Kyuubi's chakra being released.

'_So he's actually going to fight,'_ thought one of the ANBU with a cat mask.

'_This could be difficult if he's using the demon's charka,' _thought another with an ape mask.

'_I'll finally have my revenge on the demon fox,' _happily thought the last one with a ferret mask.

"Scared already?" asked Naruto.

"Huh? What did you say brat?" said the bird masked ANBU scoffed. "Take him down," he ordered.

"You'll never take me alive," Naruto shouted with barred teeth.

All four ANBU disappeared from Naruto's line of vision. '_I might have underestimated the_m,' frowned Naruto. '_No matter, they have no chance against me and the fox together_.'

'**Stop calling me 'fox,' you damn brat!**' said the Kyuubi.

"Try this demon boy," said the cat masked ANBU while throwing several kunai at Naruto. Within a blink of an eye Naruto disappeared from his spot and the kunai hit nothing but the tree trunk Naruto had been on.

"Where is that monster?" said the ferret masked ANBU. "Nobody can disappeared like that. That's inhuman."

"Up there," shouted the one with the cat mask as he pointed towards the moon.

"NICE TRY DEMON!" screamed the ferret masked ANBU. It took less then a second before the next wave of kunai, this time with explosive notes, flew toward Naruto.

"Try something more original, would you," sighed the blonde. Naruto kicked the kunai and deflected them toward the bird masked ANBU. With his quick reflect the ANBU threw shuriken straight against the incoming attack and they exploded on contacts.

The bird masked ANBU's face turned into a smile, only to be replaced with a frown as soon as he saw Naruto appear behind the smoke, without a scratch on him. Naruto lunged his fist toward the said ANBU only to be met with a kick from the cat masked ANBU and before Naruto could recover, his back received another blow from the ferret masked ANBU. Naruto flew through many branches, but right before hitting a huge tree trunk with an expected loud crack, the boy concentrated it to his feet and stuck to the trunk.

"NO WAY!" exclaimed one of the ANBU. "He's still standing."

'_I guess it is my turn to join the fun,' _thought the ape masked ANBU jumping off from the tree where he was perching and observing the battle.

"Bastards," said Naruto while wiping blood off the corner of his mouth, "you guys are not going to win!"

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," the image of Naruto suddenly blurred as he split into countless copies of himself. "If you want to out number your opponents might as well go for a larger number than four."

All of the clones reached for their kunai, in unison, and split into four groups each attacking a different ANBU member. However, before the clones could even reach their enemies, the ape masked ANBU jumped into the air and made several hand seals, "Rain of One Thousand Needles!"

Out of nowhere needles start showering the clones and one by one they disappeared in a poof of smoke. The ape masked ANBU landed on the ground lightly on one foot, while the other ANBU sighed with relief.

"Not yet. He's still there," warned the ape masked ANBU.

In the middle of the needles, the real Naruto was still standing with half a dozen needles sticking through his right arm, which was shielding his head, and several more dozen in his torso and legs. The four ANBU trembled as Naruto's previously disappearing chakra suddenly starts to burn around him.

"I will not give up so easily," Naruto said and slowly raised his hands to pluck the needles off his body. Losing too much blood and chakra in the process he started to lose concentration. His vision blurred and his knees gave away slowly.

"Lets just kill him. Everyone knows that he is a monster. No one is going to blame us if we kill him," persuaded the ferret masked ANBU.

"Yah lets," agrees the cat masked ANBU, "I want to get my revenge too." The four ANBU surrounded Naruto and prepared hand seals. "Suiton: Water Tower No Jutsu!" exclaimed the cat masked ANBU.

"Doton: Land Crush No Jutsu!" yelled the ferret masked ANBU.

"Fuuiton: Gale Wind No Jutsu," said the bird masked ANBU.

The ape masked ANBU instantly followed the rest and connecting hand seals together.

He stopped suddenly and with a jerk, stared at Naruto, raising his fingers to his mouth and aiming at Naruto, "Katon: Fire Tornado no Jutsu" exclaimed the ape masked ANBU.

Naruto looked up toward the four ANBU to see the four massive ninjutsus heading straight for him from different sides. The four ANBU just smiled and chuckled when the fire, water, wind, and earth attacks hit the spot where Naruto was standing; wiping it out completely…


	3. A Turn in the Road

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately)

"blah" speech  
'_blah_' thoughts  
'**blah**' Kyuubi's speech  
'_**blah**' _Kyuubi's thoughts

(Note to reviewers): no pairings for now, maybe later on… NON-YAOI

Note: revised chapter.

* * *

Chapter 3 – A Turn in the Road 

"Unbelievable! The kid's body is still in one piece," exclaimed the ferret masked ANBU.

"Let's just bring his body back to the village. I'm tired," said the ape masked ANBU lazily.

))))) Inside Naruto's head (((((

"**Kid. Wake up kid. What was that, huh? They beat you so easily," **teased Kyuubi.

"Shut up! I am trying, you know. There are four of them," growled Naruto.

"**You will never cut it. Now let me take over already,"** Kyuubi urged impatiently.

"Fine," Naruto says hoarsely, "But when you are done give me my body back."

))))) Back to Reality (((((

"What is going on here?" asked the bird masked ANBU. They all stared at Naruto's body with awe as the seal on the blonde's stomach started to glow, then spin and fade until it was barely visible.

"This kid is freaking me out," said the cat masked ANBU, "Is he dead or not?"

"**Want to take a guess?"** Kyuubi's voice asked through Naruto's mouth. Naruto stood, but kept his head down. Suddenly a huge amount of chakra surrounded his body. As his body seemed to burn in the middle of the chakra, all of his wounds started to heal. The cuts and burns closed up and leaving no scars. Bones were put into place with several cracks and pops.

When Naruto went through the next change, the four ANBU started to tremble in fear.

"I don't think this is the same person anymore," says the ape masked ANBU, "LOOK!"

Naruto's fingers tensed and slowly his nails grow longer. His whisker marks widened, and fangs lengthened.

"**You're right monkey. I am not Naruto, sort of,"** Kyuubi said while grinning. The Kyuubi-possessed Naruto slowly tilted his head up so that the ANBU could see his eyes, which were not blue and innocent anymore, but orange-red and feline-like.

"Lets get out of here, now!" suggested the ape masked ANBU. "This is beyond us now. This is the demon!"

"**What's the sudden rush? Don't you want to stay and play?" **says the Kyuubi with an evil sadistic smile and licks his lips. "**I thought you wanted to get revenge?"** The ANBU seemed to be even more shaken by this and started to run away. The Kyuubi only chuckles as he watched the four, supposedly elite shinobi, scramble through the tree branches.

"**I think that is a fair head start,"** mumbled the demon as he smirked. With extreme speed Kyuubi jumped through the trees and landed in front of the ANBU. **"You've got to be kidding me. Is that your best?"** asked the Kyuubi.

"ARHG! I'll take you on myself, demon," screamed the ferret masked ANBU as he concentrated his chakra on his palm and slammed his hand on the ground. A rocky handle shot out of the ground. The said ANBU member grabbed the handle and pulled out a katana from the ground. Jumping from the ground, the ferret masked ANBU tried to strike Kyuubi mid-air.

The fox expertly dodged the attack without any difficulty. The ferret masked ANBU uses his free hand to throw shuriken toward Kyuubi, who simply caught all the shuriken in one swift move and chucked them back at his opponent.

The ferret masked ANBU deflected the shuriken with his sword and lunged toward Kyuubi. The demon raised his left palm against the sword. With a loud crack, the sword shatters as soon as it touched Naruto's palm. Instantly Kyuubi snuck in and grabbed the ANBU by the neck.

"**Isn't it sweet to have your own body? Too bad I am going to take yours away,"** Kyuubi says with a snarl. The fox tightened his grip around the neck and it started to crack under the pressure. The ferret masked ANBU squirmed, trying to escape the grip, but it was futile as his neck snapped only a moment later and the ferret masked ANBU suddenly stopped moving. Just to make sure he was dead, the Kyuubi uses his claws to rip the right side of neck completely open. He savored the taste of blood as it poured out of the wound and helped feed his bloodlust.

"Let's see if you can beat both of us?" asked the cat masked ANBU and the bird masked ANBU together. They jumped toward Kyuubi with kunai ready.

The Kyuubi deflected the first strike by the bird masked ANBU with his claws. All three keep on jumping on and off branches around them, while sparks shot off from colliding attacks.

The bird masked ANBU reached into his vest and pulled out a windmill shuriken. He opened it and threw it toward the Kyuubi's back. Kyuubi quickly turned around and caught the large shuriken before disappearing.

"Where did it go?" asked the cat masked ANBU, "This thing is too fast."

"**Kage Shuriken No Jutsu,"** a voice yelled out above them.

The two ANBU looked up in horror as hundreds of windmill shuriken flew right at them from every side.

Both ANBU let out a scream that echoed through the forest. "What just happen here?" asks the ape masked ANBU in a trembling voice, "My whole squad has been eliminated."

"**Well. There is still you,"** Kyuubi says from behind him. The ape masked ANBU froze in from the killer intent. His body tensed and he couldn't move. **"Pathetic humans," **Kyuubi scoffed. "Thanks** for the windmill shuriken, it was very useful."**

The ape masked ANBU slowly turned his head only to see claws lunging toward his neck. "NOO!" screamed the human right before he died.

"**ANBU this, ANBU that… they are nothing but a bunch of sissies,"** scoffed the Kyuubi as he took a look around. "**Ah, the free world… but it seems it's time to go now."** Kyuubi said sadly as he felt Naruto trying to regain control.

The orange-red swirling chakra disappeared and Naruto fell to one knee breathing heavily back in control of his body. He slowly stood up and looked over the disaster area of where the ANBU were killed. He stares in disgust, fear and, surprisingly, awe at what had just happened.

'_The Kyuubi sure has a shit load of power,' _was the only coherent sentence that Naruto was able to construct from all his random thoughts.

'**That was fun! Kid, you really should let me out more often,'** said a satisfied Kyuubi.

'_Can't you do any CLEAN kills? God… this is sickening…' _thought Naruto with a frown on his face.

'**I'll remember that next time you ask me for help.'**

"Damn fox…" mumbled Naruto.

Little did either of them know, but two figures had watched the entire battle from a safe distance and had now decided to make their appearance. Even with his increased hearing, Naruto barely heard the two land on the ground behind him. '_Who the hell is it now?'_ thought Naruto in annoyance.

"What the hell do yo…." said Naruto as he was turning around, but shock rippled through his body and the words froze in his throat.

In front of him stood two tall figures in black cloaks with red clouds painted on them and high collars that covered the bottom of their faces up to the nose. They both wore straw hats that had cloth hanging down all around the edge completely covering their heads only thinning out a little in the front, so that they could actually see. Since they both had their heads raised, Naruto could plainly see each person's forehead protector.

The tall one, who looked to be about six-foot eight had a wrapped up katana on his back the tip of which almost touched the ground and the handle ended about a foot over his head. His forehead protector was that of the Hidden Mist and had a line cut across the surface from one end to the other; the calling card of a missing-nin. He had small white eyes and had markings on both cheeks that looked like gills.

The other one, who was about five-foot six had a Hidden Leaf forehead protector that also had a line cut across the surface from one end to the other. His most distinct feature was the fully developed Sharingan in both eyes.

"Hello, Naruto," greeted the shorted of the two.

))))) Meanwhile in the Hokage Office ((((( 

"The ANBU have been dispatched over 20 minutes ago, but still no sign of Kakashi or Jiraiya, where the hell are they?" asked an angry Tsunade. Just then the door opened to reveal two white haired people. "DAMN IT KAKASHI! Why are you always late?" yelled Tsunade.

"Is something the matter?" asked Kakashi in a completely calm tone.

"Yes 'something IS the matter', a certain student of yours," Tsunade pointed at both Kakashi and Jiraiya, "has beaten up a guard and fled from the village."

"WHAT!" yelled the jounin and sennin at the same time.

"That impossible, why would Naruto leave?" asked Jiraiya.

"That doesn't matter right now, we have to go after him," said Kakashi.

"I've already sent a team of ANBU after him. Under strict orders to bring him back alive, but since he's your student, and your responsibility, I want you to go and make sure that he is brought back safely!" ordered Tsunade.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," they said before disappearing in a poof of smoke.

'_Please be all right Naruto,_' thought Tsunade. '_Though_ s_omething tells me that, unlike with Sasuke, we won't be able to get you back.'_

))))) Back in the Forest (((((

Naruto was way too shocked to even respond to the greeting. '_Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! What am I gonna do now?' _panicked a terrified Naruto.

'**_These guys are strong. If I remember correctly they want my power. This could be a fortunate meeting,'_** thought the Kyuubi. '**Hey kid, see if you can join up with them.'**

'_What are you crazy? They'll kill me!' _

'**No, they want my power and if you can use my power then you will be a very valuable asset for them. And they will probably train you too,**' reasoned the fox. **'_That'll be a load off of my shoulders_,'**thought the Kyuubi.

Kyuubi didn't mind making his vessel stronger, but Naruto was so stubborn and annoying that it would just be easier and less nerve racking if someone else did it. He couldn't, however, entrust this to anyone in that godforsaken village, oh no, they would only keep him weak.

'_You sure about this?'_ asked a now less scared and more skeptic Naruto.

'**YES! Trust me damn it!' **growled the Kyuubi.

'_Hmm, if the Kyuubi is right then this wouldn't be such a bad deal. No, not a bad deal at all,' _mused Naruto. The blonde's shock had already worn off and he was now standing proud and tall, beaming with confidence.

"It seems we were never properly introduced, my name is Uzumaki Naruto" said the boy proudly. "However, I am no longer part of the Hidden Leaf."

This reversal in attitude confused both Akatsuki members, but they didn't let it show.

"I am Uchiha Itachi," said the shorter of the two "Hidden Leaf's missing-nin."

"And I am Hoshigaki Kisame, Hidden Mist missing-nin," said the one with the katana. "You should consider yourself a missing-nin too. Especially after what you just did."

"Whatever I don't care, Itachi-san… Kisame-san…"

Itachi's head jerked suddenly '_Itachi-SAN? What the hell does he mean by calling me that?' _Kisame was a little surprised that the kid would instantly respect him, especially after the circumstances surrounding their last meeting.

"What does the Akatsuki want me for?" asked Naruto.

"I don't know, our orders are just to capture you," answered Itachi in a cold tone.

'_Cold eyes, cold tone, cold everything… now I see where Sasuke gets his attitude from,' _commented Naruto in his head. Remembering his old teammate made Naruto frown, 'T_hat bastard, son of a bit… NO, no use in remembering him and worrying about him. I have a new life ahead of me now.'_

"Well… umm… do you think it would be possible for me… to… join the Akatsuki?" asked Naruto hesitantly.

Itachi and Kisame exchanged glances. "He wants to join? By his own free will?" whispered Kisame.

"Well from what we just saw the kid does have potential. I don't think our higher echelons would refuse." whispered Itachi. "Not that it really matters, as long as we bring him back with us we're fine."

Then turning back to Naruto, Itachi said, "I don't think that would be a problem, however the decision isn't for us to make since we do not run this organization."

"Then can you take me to the ones that do make the decisions?" asked a hopeful Naruto.

"Yes, we have orders to bring you back anyway," said a satisfied Kisame. '_Oh good, no more chasing after this kid_.'

"Then lets go, this scene is bound to attract attention," said Itachi while looking cautiously in the direction of Konoha. With that the company of three leapt up into the trees and was gone.


	4. New Arrangements

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately)

"blah" speech  
'_blah_' thoughts  
'**blah**' Kyuubi's speech

note: revised chapter.

* * *

Chapter 4 – New Arrangements 

It was getting brighter now, light was starting to graze the mountaintops in front of them. They had been running for several hours now, exactly how long Naruto did not know. His mind was more focused on the destination rather than the journey and even though he hadn't slept at all in the last 24 hours he still managed to keep up with Itachi and Kisame.

'_This kid is really something,'_ thought Kisame. '_I was sure we would have had to take a pit stop, but he doesn't even show the slightest signs of exhaustion.'_

'_Great stamina, for a kid his age,'_ thought Itachi._ 'Even thought it is probably due to the Kyuubi.'_

"We will soon be crossing into the Mountain Country. They don't have a hidden village so getting in will be a lot easier," informed Kisame.

"Don't the border guards stop you to ask questions? Won't they see that you are missing-nin?" asked Naruto referring to their forehead protectors.

"That's what genjutsu is for, Naruto," curtly replied the Uchiha.

"Right," Naruto nodded in embarrassment.

"Lets slow down to walking speed now," ordered Itachi. "We don't want to attract attention by continuing like this."

'_Understandable, blending in with the crowd, more or less,'_ reasoned Naruto looking at how the Akatsuki members were dressed.

'**Yes, the less attention you attract the better, this is one of the basic principles of stealth,' **lectured the Kyuubi .'**You'll learn more later.'**

The border station soon came into view and the group slowed themselves down almost instantaneously. The station itself wasn't anything impressive, just two houses standing opposite each other on each side of the road. In between them was a small gate that opened outward to let people in and out of the country.

Itachi and Kisame performed a genjutsu that made them look like simple farmers. Naruto was also about to change himself, but Itachi stopped him reasoning that he didn't look suspicious and that the border guards haven't received any news yet.

"Actually, I think he should cover up those whisker marks," suggested Kisame. "This way the pursuers don't know where to find us."

"That's true. Hold on a moment Naruto," said Itachi as he performed another genjutsu that not only hid Naruto's whisker marks, but also made him look like the son of a farmer.

"I thought you were just going to hide the whisker marks," whined Naruto in confusion. It's not that he particularly minded his new look, it was necessary after all, the problem was just that he didn't like being deceived and/or lied to.

"We can't be too careful," replied Itachi in a stern voice. The eldest Uchiha had never been good at dealing with kids and all their misplaced whining.

Once they got to the gate, the guard lazily made his way out of the building and asked what business they had coming to the Mountain Country. Itachi made up something along the lines of going to visit relatives, or some shit related to family. Naruto put on his 'happy mask' and acted all excited about seeing his sister after so many years. All in all they got through 'the security' quite easily.

The trio continued at a leisurely pace until the border was out of sight and then instantly picked up the pace; albeit not nearly as fast as when they were running through the Fire Country.

"We don't need to travel really fast now," explained Itachi. "We are just going until the nearby town, so we can rest for a little while."

))))) Meanwhile North of Konoha ((((( 

Kakashi and Jiraiya were running through the forest looking for Naruto, following the path the ANBU had taken.

'_I hope we can get to him before something bad happens,' _thought Kakashi.

'_Damn it Naruto! This is not the time to be running off, with the village in its current state we need every single shinobi we have. I'll have to have a serious talk with him later,' _angrily thought the sannin.

Suddenly Kakashi and Jiraiya felt an uncomfortable chill go down their spines. "I have a bad feeling about this," muttered Jiraiya.

"We best be prepared for a possible fight," said Kakashi as he raised his defense. '_However, something tells me that we might be a little too late.' _About a minute later, both jounin and sannin smelled blood. "This can't be good," said Kakashi and increased his pace. "How can we smell blood, but not be able to see where it's coming from?" he wondered. '_It would be understandable if we were of the Inuzuka clan, but otherwise.'_

Jiraiya's face grew even more serious, '_There can only be one explanation: there must be a massive amount of blood,'_ gravely concluded the old man.

"The ANBU tracks seem to be going in the direction of where this smell originates. Maybe they followed it too," Kakashi tried to lighten the situation, but it didn't work. The deeper they traveled into the forest the thicker the smell of blood became. '_We are definitely closing in on, whatever it is,'_ thought both men as they exchanged worried looks.

After several more minutes of running they made it to where Naruto had fought against the ANBU. The sight that lay before them literally shook both of them to the core. The small forest clearing was predominantly covered in blood. Everything, absolutely everything, had some amount of blood on it. It was an absolutely disgusting sight. Kakashi barely held back his dinner and Jiraiya just simply stared at the clearing unable to move or say anything.

"My god… I haven't seen anything like THIS in 13 years," said Kakashi in a trembling voice with shivers running down his spine, arms, and legs.

"Yes, this looks demonic alright," said Jiraiya instantly understanding what Kakashi was referring to. '_Please god, the seal didn't break. Just please,'_ mentally pleaded Jiraiya.

"Naruto probably lost control again," said the copy ninja. "But as far as I know, the only time that happens is when he's under great emotional stress."

Jiraiya took a moment to digest that information. "If that was the case then Naruto must have been provoked somehow," said Jiraiya. "Since he most certainly isn't the kind of person to give up; especially control of his body." The toad sannin looked closer at the mess before them, '_I really wonder what happened here.'_

"The _good_ news is this is all still fresh, less than an hour has passed since this fight took place," said Kakashi. "Naruto is probably still relatively close to the village," both Leaf-nin silently prayed for that to be true.

"Considering the fact that we can't feel that demonic chakra anymore, I'd say that Naruto has calmed down, at least a little bit," said Jiraiya with a small glimmer of hope of his face. "The two of us can't possibly handle all this territory," sighed the sannin pointing in all the directions Naruto could have gone. "Kakashi, report back to Tsunade about this and tell her to gather up some man-power to search for him," he ordered. "I'll stay here and try to track him. If I find anything I'll draw arrows on trees." Kakashi nodded and was gone instantly.

'_Tracking him is going to be rather difficult since the smell of blood is covering most every other smell in the area,' _looking around Jiraiya noticed that there were several footprints in the bloodied grass. They were all small, '_a child's foot,'_ mused Jiraiya. '_Well, it's good that he's still alone.'_

Jiraiya then started looking for clues as to where Naruto could have gone. He looked around the outside of the clearing and noticed that no footprints led in or out. Hence the sannin reasoned that Naruto must have been traveling through the trees. Jiraiya instantly jumped up into the surrounding trees and after only a few minutes of search saw a bloody footprint on one of the branches. '_All right, now I can follow him,_' thought the toad sannin. '_With any luck I'll have him back in the village before sunrise,'_ smirked Jiraiya as he jumped forward.

The trail was rather easy to follow since Naruto made no attempt to cover up after himself. After several minutes Jiraiya realized that the trail was a straight line and increased his speed.

'_Good thing Naruto doesn't know how cover his tracks,'_ however as soon as he thought that the tracks ended abruptly.

"What the…?" Jiraiya decided to look several trees ahead thinking Naruto might have jumped farther than all the other times. He still found nothing. '_That's weird…'_ the old man went back to the last footprint for a more thorough examination. "_According to the depth of the outline, the fact that it's only one footprint and the smudge on the toe side: it looks as if he was still running, but then where the hell did he go?_" wondered Jiraiya with a very confused look on his face.

Something inside of him told him to backtrack a little in hopes of finding some clues. About 20 footprints back he noticed an abnormality, this footprint seemed to be smudged differently. '_Aha!_ _It looks as if he jumped to the left here. Clever, clever, but you'll have to do better than that.' _

Jiraiya jumped to the left and didn't have to search long before he found a new trail of footprints there. '_Just like last time, it's a straight line. I can freely increase my speed then.' _Though, again after following this new line for a while Jiraiya soon found that it came to another dead-end. "Not again!" grumbled Jiraiya as he was forced to backtrack again. This time only 10 footprints back, the sannin found a footprint that was smudged to the left. "Damn it!" Jiraiya cursed softly under his breath, "I need to start paying attention to every footprint." Jiraiya briefly wondered how the supposedly delinquent blonde had suddenly become so good, before completely focusing on the task at hand

After about 30 or so footprints, Jiraiya noticed that Naruto turned left again. Not paying this pattern much heed, Jiraiya simply followed this new trail. In another 20 footprints Naruto again turned left, _'What the hell is he doing?'_ thought Jiraiya once again changing direction. Within several minutes, Jiraiya finally noticed that his surroundings looked surprisingly familiar. '_I feel like I've been here not too long ago,' _mused Jiraiya and looked around more intently. That's when he realized what Naruto had done, '_THAT DAMN KID!'_ screamed Jiraiya in his mind; he was already planning a punishment for Naruto for making a fool of him.

"Find anything Jiraiya-sama?" Jiraiya turned around to find Kakashi crouching down looking at the footprints.

"You're back soon," said that sannin in a strained tone.

"Not really, its been over an hour," stated Kakashi.

"AN HOUR!" yelled Jiraiya.

"Well yes, I reported to the Hokage. Told her about everything that we found here. Then showed her on a map approximately where this happened, so that she could better strategize where to send other shinobi," explicated the younger shinobi in a calm voice. "She is going to gather more forces to look for him at dawn."

Jiraiya nodded in understanding, but looked back down at the ground.

"These are his tracks are they not?" asked Kakashi while pointing at the footprints.

"Yes, but if you follow them they either end up as a dead-end or they keep turning left until you come back here," said Jiraiya in obvious annoyance.

"That's interesting, Naruto was never been very big on stealth. He prefers loud entrances, if you know what I mean," said Kakashi with a slightly joyful hint in his voice.

"Yeah, that's what worries me," replied a concerned Jiraiya. '_How come now, suddenly, he can come up such tricks that can deceive even me?'_

))))) Back with Naruto (((((

Naruto, Itachi, and Kisame were now on the outskirts of a small town. "We will spend a few hours here resting and getting a few necessary things," said Itachi.

"Oi, Itachi-san, are you sure that it's safe? I mean the Leaf are probably tracking me already, so shouldn't we still be on the move?" asked a worried Naruto. '_I don't want to go to back to that fucking village!'_

"Naruto, I don't think you realize, but considering the speed we were just traveling at, we are actually about a week's worth of normal travel time away from Konoha," replied Kisame with a grin.

Naruto's eyes widened. He knew they had traveled fast, but not THAT fast. '_I must have been REALLY engrossed in my thoughts_.'

"Plus, Itachi and I used some tricks to fool any pursuers that may be following us," added the blue-faced missing-nin. "So don't worry Naruto they won't be showing up here anytime soon."

"First of all, we'll need a hotel, then we need to get you some new clothes Naruto," outlined Itachi while looking with disgust at what Naruto was wearing, "and only then can we start thinking about food."

Naruto looked down at himself and was about to say something, but Itachi interrupted, "Don't even think about objecting, Naruto, that outfit of yours screams 'please kill me' and we don't need that kind of attention."

"No, I wasn't going to object," replied Naruto. "It's just that, I don't really know what to get for myself," he finished in a timid voice.

"Don't worry about that we'll help you out," the Uchiha reassured him.

"Thanks," said Naruto with a big smile. '_This is great, no one in the village, not even my so-called friends, would help me with getting an outfit. That is of course IF I could handle the stares and glares of the shop owners, customers, and the general crowd to actually get into the store and stay long enough to actually look at more than one outfit.' _Naruto wanted to shake in anger and resentment, but managed to restrain himself, 'C_alm down, Naruto, calm down… you are over and done with that place now. Never going back, so no need to think about it anymore,'_ the demon-container told himself.

The three companions easily found a hotel, dropped off their stuff in the room and went shopping. They soon found a store that sold suitable clothes and after trying out several outfits and some mixing and matching Naruto was set in his new outfit.

The blonde's sandals were replaced by actual shoes; reason being that the Mountain Country was a lot colder than the Fire Country. Naruto's body was now clad in black pants and a black sleeve-less mesh shirt. On top of the shirt was a dark red jacket that had several pouch-pockets on the chest, two regular pockets on the sides and even a pocket on each sleeve. He was now also sporting a facemask that Itachi had suggested so that Naruto couldn't be identified by his whisker marks. They were considering a hat, but because of Naruto's free flowing spiky hair they decided against it.

After that the trio went to get some breakfast, after which they went back to the hotel room and slept until mid-afternoon. "Best to leave now," said Itachi as he roughly woke up Naruto. "We still have about a day's worth of travel, since we will be moving at a much more relaxed pace now."

They left town without any trouble. Naruto was surprised to see that even though their group was drawing looks from the crowd that the looks were of amazement, surprise, or even admiration.

'_This feels really… nice… so good to be away from home,'_ thought Naruto, instinctively calling Konoha home, and immediately mentally kicking himself for it.

During the trip, Itachi explained that the Mountain Country, since it didn't have a hidden village, was in alliance with the Earth Country. So if anyone from this country wanted to hire a shinobi they would go to the Hidden Stone. Itachi politely answered all of Naruto's questions about the Mountain Country and about some other countries, except the Water Country because that was Kisame specialty. Naruto found that both Itachi and Kisame were quite talkative and didn't seem to be so bloodthirsty as long as there was no one else around.

They didn't arrive at the next village until midnight. Not wasting anytime, they had a light dinner and went to sleep at the only hotel the village had to offer. They slept in late, since they had no deadline to keep and weren't really worried about Konoha shinobi crossing the border and finding them. During lunch, Kisame showed Naruto a map of the entire ninja world, on which he pointed out approximately where they were in relation to Konoha. Naruto was amazed to have traveled that far in only a few hours. Kisame on the other hand was amazed that Naruto could keep up with them for such a long time, but of course did not tell the boy this.

Once on the road again, Itachi announced that they would reach the Akatsuki lair by nightfall. As they got closer and closer to their destination Naruto became more and more worried.

'_What if they don't accept me? What if they only want the power inside of me? What then? Oh shit, what have I gotten myself into? Maybe I shouldn't have come along?'_ these were the kinds of questions that were floating around in Naruto's head. '_Hmm, the Kyuubi's not answering, I guess he must be asleep. Well that's alright, I don't really need him right now anyway.'_

Itachi noticed Naruto's discomfort, but decided not to say anything. What could he say? He didn't know what the Akatsuki really wanted with Naruto, it wasn't even his concern. So they just continued walking.

The group of missing-nin had been walking for about five hours, the sun was setting and the road was now going through the mountains. Suddenly to the right a narrow path came into view, it tightly passed right between two slabs of stone. The trio moved off the road and walked on this path until it ended in a dead-end.

"Umm, Itachi-san, are you sure you know where you're going?" asked Naruto looking up questioning at the stoic man. Itachi just glared at him. "Well I mean it is dark and maybe you lost your way since…"

Before Naruto could finish Kisame picked him up him by the waist and jumped halfway up the mountain, using the sides of each slab to push off of. After several second they were standing about 500 feet above their former position, on a wide-open ledge. Itachi landed right behind them and walked right up to the side of the mountain and started doing some hand seals. He then touched the stone in a few places and did a few more hand seals.

Naruto was watching this in absolute confusion, '_What the hell is he doing? First he leads us to a dead-end and now he's trying to perform some sort of jutsu on a wall. Weird…'_

Just then a part of the wall simply dissolved right in front of the trio to reveal a dark tunnel.

* * *

A/N: i know, i know no real action in this chapter, but hey i need naruto to get from point A to point B 


	5. New Life

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately). I do own all of my own characters.

"blah" = speech

'_blah_' = thoughts

'**blah**' = Kyuubi's speech

this chapter took a little longer than i expected...

* * *

Chapter 5 – New Life

Naruto stared down the dark passage that seemed to have no end. __

Itachi and Kisame calmly started walking in, but noticed that Naruto wasn't following.

"Come on kid, lets go" said Kisame.

Noticing that Naruto wasn't even moving, Kisame grabbed Naruto by his arm and dragged him in. Naruto tried feebly to resist, but Kisame just pulled harder, forcing Naruto to follow him.

They walked for what seemed like eternity down this dark corridor, which occasionally turned to the right or left. Naruto looked back at one point and noticed that he could no longer see the light of the entrance behind him.

"You can't go back now even if you want to, the boulder has moved itself back into place and is being held there by ninjutsu" explained Kisame.

'_Well isn't that reassuring' _thought Naruto sarcastically.

"Don't worry too much about it," said Itachi to the obviously scared Naruto "just what ever you do DON'T be disrespectful."

"H-Hai" stuttered Naruto.

Soon after Naruto could see a faint light in front of them. As they got closer he made out the outline of a door right next to the torch that turned out to be the light source.

Itachi opened the door and went in followed by Naruto and Kisame. The inside was well lit and it took Naruto a little while to get used to the brightness.

The trio was now in what looked like a waiting room. Naruto caught sight of Itachi talking to some holes in the wall on the far side of the room. There was another door on the opposite the one they had come in.

"Kisame, what's Itachi doing?" asked Naruto.

"He's arranging a meeting," said Kisame.

"Oh…"

* * *

An Hour Later

The door next to the holes in the wall opened to reveal nothing but darkness. Itachi walked through the door and seemed to disappear into the darkness; Kisame tapped Naruto's shoulder and beckoned him to follow as he made his way to the door. Naruto hesitantly followed.

Once inside the room he immediately noticed Itachi standing right in front of him and had to move slightly to the right, so as not to bump into him.

'_I wonder if that's ninjutsu or genjutsu' _thought Naruto and started looking around the room.

With the exception of a three candles, that stood equally spaced several yards in front of them, the room was absolutely dark. Behind each of the candles, Naruto could barely make out an outline of a person, but could not see their face.

'_These people sure are secretive'_ thought Naruto.

'**Well what did you expect kid, that they would reveal their identity to every stranger?' **said the Kyuubi in a bored tone.

'_Guess not…'_

Itachi's voice brought Naruto back to reality.

"Sir, we have completed our mission and brought Uzumaki Naruto back with us" said Itachi in a calm voice.

"So I see," said the person in the middle "however, it seems to me that there is more going on."

"Yes, this time around he came with us willingly," replied Itachi.

"And what would be the reason for this?" asked the figure on the right.

At this point Kisame nudged Naruto a little bit, motioning for him to speak.

Naruto gulped, but stepped forward spoke on his own accord; he was surprised when his voice came out calm and collected.

"I came willingly because I am no longer a part of the Hidden Leaf Village, and I was hopping that I could join the Akatsuki."

A soft chuckle was heard from the person in the middle.

"So you want to join the Akatsuki?" asked the person on the left.

Naruto said yes and nodded.

"And you think that because we've been hunting you we would like that?" he continued.

Naruto didn't say anything, but you could tell that he was getting nervous and that that had indeed been the reason.

Suddenly Naruto could see the middle figure leaning toward the figure on the left, obviously whispering something.

* * *

The talk between the Akatsuki echelons

(A/N: this whole conversation is being whispered. Roeto is the one in the middle, Kane is on the left, and Hajeko is on the right; Naruto's perspective)

"Perhaps we should consider this," said Roeto.

"No we should proceed with the original plan," replied Kane.

"I know this isn't exactly what we had planned, but if he joins we will still have the power of the nine-tails," countered Roeto.

"But that kid will have it not us," said Kane.

"Look this way we can train him to be a weapon," said Hajeko.

"That's true," said Roeto "and this way is a lot more reliable. Who knows how many things could go wrong if we went with the original plan."

"That's true, the original plan is quite risky" said Kane.

"Exactly so if we do this, we are guaranteed to have the power of the nine-tails work for us and not against us" said Roeto.

"Fine," agreed Kane.

"Good then it's settled," said Roeto "however we still need someone to train him."

"I suggest we let Itachi and Kisame train him," said Hajeko.

"What? No, we need the Uchiha for far more important missions" said Roeto.

"No, I must agree," said Kane "the Uchiha is from the same village and the sharingan will most likely be helpful for interacting with the Kyuubi."

"True, true… alright, yeah…" said Roeto contemplatively.

(A/N: these characters will be described later on)

* * *

Back to Regular Talking

"Naruto, we have decided to except you into the Akatsuki" said the person in the middle. (A/N: no names since Naruto hasn't been introduced yet).

Naruto instantly felt better and smiled a little.

"However the first three months will be your probation period" said the person on the left.

Naruto's smile faded a little bit.

"Now Naruto could you step out to the waiting room for a little while" said the person in the middle.

"Alright," said Naruto.

As he turned around and was shocked to see that it wasn't a wall of darkness as he had expected. Where the wall of darkness was supposed to be there was nothing; Naruto could easily see the entire waiting room.

Naruto quickly recovered from his shock and went back to the waiting room.

As he sat down on one of the chairs he quickly glanced back to look at the other room and was shocked once again. The wall of darkness was there once again.

'_What the hell? Did they put that up as soon as I walked out?'_ Naruto questioned in his mind.

Suddenly Naruto could hear the Kyuubi chuckle lightly, '**no kid, no, that's was never removed. It's a ninjutsu that on one side is absolutely black and you can't see through it no matter what, but on the other side it's completely transparent.' **

'**Anyway just relax kid, they are only talking about your life in there' **said the Kyuubi placidly.

'_Yeah, only'_ said Naruto sarcastically '_Hey I thought you were gona actually teach me some new jutsus.'_

'**Have some goddamn patience kid! Plus you need to strengthen your body quite a bit before I even bother with you.'**

* * *

In the Conference Room

"Itachi, Kisame, you have not completed your mission yet" said Roeto.

"What do you mean? We brought back the brat didn't we?" asked Kisame.

"Yes, but that was only the first part of the mission" said Kane.

"The second part is training him isn't it?" asked Itachi.

"You always were sharp Itachi," said Roeto "yes, the second part of your mission is to train him."

"Apart from regular training we need him to easily be able to use the powers of the Kyuubi' said Kane.

"Understood" said Itachi.

"Yes, sir" Kisame reluctantly agreed. '_Damn I have to spend more time with that kid. I really hate brats.'_

"Also Kisame we will need for you to teach him water-jutsus," said Roeto "we want him to be versatile in every element, so when he is done learning water-jutsus, Kisame you will be replaced with Raiko so that he can learn lightning-jutsus."

"We are to train him as an assassin right?" asked Itachi.

"After the next three months are up, you'll know what he is best at; that is what we will be training him as" said Roeto.

Itachi and Kisame nodded and turned to go, but were stopped by Roeto's voice.

"You are to stay here for the next three months. I'm sure you know where the training facilities are" said Roeto.

"Yes, sir" said Itachi.

"Good then you're dismissed," said Roeto.

Itachi and Kisame then walked out to the waiting room to join Naruto.

"No matter what you said to Itachi and Kisame, you do want him to be an assassin, don't you?" asked Hajeko.

"Yes… and once he's trained we can finally put some our long-term plans into action" said Roeto with a mischievous smile.

* * *

In the Waiting Room

"Come Naruto," said Itachi as he walked toward one of the walls of the waiting room. He pressed his fingers in a certain pattern against the wall and it disappeared to reveal a well-lit corridor.

As they walked down the corridor Itachi explained a few things to Naruto.

"Naruto, Kisame and I will be training you from now on."

Naruto nodded.

"I expect absolute cooperation," said Itachi.

"And don't whine, kid," added Kisame "I have whining brats."

"Yes, sensei" said Naruto.

"Good, I'm glad to see you agree," said Itachi "now lets go to our rooms and then I'll give you a tour of the compound."

After a few minutes of walking down many different corridors, they finally reached a corridor that had one door at the end of it. They opened the door to reveal a door with two beds, a table and several bookshelves.

Naruto dropped off his stuff and was about to go out again when Itachi grabbed him by the shoulder and forced him back. He held out a black exercise suit and told Naruto to put it on, which Naruto promptly did.

"Your training starts now," said Itachi "that is a weighted suit, which will help build your muscle mass and chakra control. We are going to start you off with 50 pounds."

Naruto's eyes bugged out, "50 pounds already?!" Naruto half screamed."

"Shut up!" commanded Itachi, "Anymore complaining and I'll have you wear 100 pounds."

Naruto promptly shut up, but continued to grimace.

"From now on you will wear that suit all the time, except in the shower. I know I said that this will help with your chakra control, but for the first week I want you to walk around in that suit without using chakra. After the first week is done, you will get more weight added to the suit and you will be able to use chakra to help you walk around."

Itachi then put five ten-pound weights into Naruto's suit and beckoned Naruto to follow him on the tour of the compound.

As soon as Naruto began to move, he immediately felt the extra weight. He noticed that it wasn't that bad to walk around with, but when he thought about fighting like this he realized that this would seriously slow him down.

'_This sucks'_ thought Naruto.

'**Idiot, this help you like hell'**said the Kyuubi.

'_I realize that, but it still sucks'_ replied Naruto.

The Akatsuki compound was a very large place, complete with a training room that was about 50 square yards. Next to the training room was the weapons room, which had every single weapon type imaginable, even some things that Naruto had never seen before. Itachi then showed Naruto the location of some practical rooms such as the bathroom, kitchen (which didn't have any ramen as Naruto sadly noted) and dining room.

"Hey Itachi-san when are you going to teach me that jutsu for getting in and out of this place?"

"After the three month period is up" replied Itachi.

"What?" pouted Naruto "Why?"

"That's what is meant by probation," said Kisame "if you do go outside we will always accompany you."

"Oh good, at least I won't be stuck in a cave for three straight months" said Naruto.

"Well, of course we will be doing training outside" said Itachi.

"Come now it's getting late," said Itachi "you need sleep in preparation for training."

"Yes, sir!"

"By the way Naruto, you'll be sleeping on the floor" said Kisame in an amused voice.

"WHAT!?" yelled Naruto.

"Well you need to build up your body, so just consider this part of your training" said Kisame.

"Fine, fine…" Naruto agreed reluctantly.

The next morning, Naruto woke up with a backache and sore muscles.

'_Damn it, how come I have to sleep on the floor?'_ Naruto scowled.

As if to as answer Naruto's mental question Itachi said, "don't worry Naruto you'll get used to it and also it will build up your bodies resistance."

After washing up the three went to the kitchen and Itachi prepared some breakfast. after breakfast Itachi and Kisame took Naruto to the training room.

"Alright Naruto, now run around the room 100 times, after that 100 push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and tree-punching" said Kisame "Also you will need to balance on a ball for 30 minutes."

"WHAT? Isn't that a bit much?" yelled Naruto.

"Shut up and do as you're told!" said an angry Kisame.

"Ok, sensei" sheepishly answered Naruto.

"Now for complaining you are going to be punished," said Itachi with an evil smile; Naruto gulped.

"You now have to run around the room 200 times. Now GO!" said Itachi forcefully.

Naruto immediately started running not wanting to get even more laps added to his overwhelming 200.after several hours Naruto finally finished his assigned task and had some rest.

"Kisame-sensei, I'm too tired to do any more today" groaned Naruto while meditating.

Itachi had left sometime while Naruto while busy with his exercises.

"Don't complain Naruto" sighed Kisame "or do you want to get punished again?"

"No sir" quickly responded Naruto.

"Here have some water" Kisame tossed a bottle to Naruto.

"Thanks sensei"

"Now don't drink too much, you aren't done for the day" said Kisame.

"Now give me another round of everything you did today" ordered Kisame.

"Oh man…" groaned Naruto "Fine, whatever…"

**'Kid you need to do this to get strong'** said the Kyuubi.

'_Yeah I guess so…'_

'**Don't guess… Know' **said the Kyuubi in a manner-of-fact tone '**now go run those laps and do those exercises they will help you a great deal.'**

After he finished his exercises Naruto peacefully meditated with Kisame for several hours before going to eat dinner.

"What's for dinner Itachi-sensei?" asked Naruto since Itachi was cooking again.

"Rabbit" responded Itachi in a bored tone.

'**Mmmm… Meat…'** said the Kyuubi licking his lips.

Naruto slightly raised an eyebrow at Kyuubi's comment, '_Its not human meat so don't get so excited.'_

'**Idiot, meat is meat; human or non-human. During all my long years in the free-world I got to taste all the meat in the world and I can easily tell you which one is good and which one you shouldn't even touch.' **

'_And how does rabbit rank?'_ asked Naruto.

'**Well rabbit is good, but it's right below wolves… wolves are really good'** said Kyuubi is a sadistic tone.

_'Right… I'll give my own opinion when I compare the two…' _said Naruto. Then mumbled '_Which will probably never happen.'_ Said Naruto thinking where he was going to get wolf-meat.

'**That's easy you just kill a wolf, skin it in your case, and then eat… well you humans would want to roast it too…'**

'_Right…I'll put that on my to-do-list… long term list that is.'_

Just then Itachi put the rabbit meat on everyone's plate and they all set in silence eating dinner.

When they came back to their room after training Naruto just collapsed on the floor in the middle of the room and fell asleep instantly. Itachi and Kisame chuckled at this, but found it a little difficult getting about the room without stepping on Naruto.

It continued like this for three months with only slight variations to the types of exercises that Naruto did. He had not been taught any ninjutsu or genjutsu yet, his sensei's reasons for this being that Naruto had to first have a strong body and strong taijutsu before they could even begin to focus on the other aspects of being a ninja. The leaders of the Akatsuki meanwhile were convinced that Naruto wasn't a spy and decided to have him trained as an assassin. They knew that as soon as the boy was ready they could begin the first phase of their plan.

* * *

Meanwhile in Konoha

The Godaime Hokage, Tsunade, was sitting at her desk trying to make sense of all the scrolls and documents that were in front of her. However her mind kept cycling back to that little boy that she had lost three months ago.

The last three months had been the worst for Tsunade and the Leaf.

The morning after Naruto ran away Tsunade had sent more ANBU and other specialized tracking teams to try and find Naruto, but to no avail. Naruto could not be found anywhere. She then issued an order for search parties to be formed to look everywhere in the Fire Country for the boy. She knew however that not all of the teams would be so diligent in their search for Naruto, not everyone wanted to have the demon-fox back. After realizing that she sent out some of the genin teams because she knew that even thought the genin weren't so good at tracking, they would want their comrade back and would be more diligent that the older generation.

However the results were still negative and after a month the Godaime was forced to give up the search and label Naruto not only as a Missing-nin, but also an S-Class criminal since he had killed that team of ANBU.

Tsunade told all the ninjas that whenever they were out on missions to try and keep an eye out for Naruto. They all agreed, but she knew that most would forget this order and would rather keep Naruto out of the village.

The Godaime Hokage when public with the news of Naruto's disappearance a week after it happened. Many of the older generation had cheered because the demon was finally gone. However the younger generation was hit quite hard with this news, especially Team 7 and the team that brought Sasuke back.

Shikamaru and Kiba could not believe that Naruto had done this and Kiba kept insisting that someone must have kidnapped him because the Naruto that he knew would never leave Konoha. Shikamaru led several search parties all of which found absolutely nothing, it looked as if Naruto had just disappeared in thin air. Neji and Chouji were still in ICU when Tsunade had made the announcement. Chouji managed to recover a month after the mission and was absolutely shocked when Shikamaru told him the news about Naruto. Neji however was still in ICU and it wasn't looking good, he was only conscious a few day of the week and even then could barely get out several words before falling back into unconsciousness.

Hinata grieved for her lost friend and crush. She felt as if she was left completely alone in the world, but soon convinced herself that he would come back. She had to be optimistic, she had to believe that he would return, then maybe just maybe she could tell him how she felt. But most of all, this event drove her to train more, become stronger so that she could impress Naruto when he returned, maybe this way she would gain more self-confidence.

Sakura and Sasuke were absolutely shocked to hear about Naruto from Kakashi. They both desperately wanted to know the reason behind Naruto's disappearance, but since Kakashi was forbidden to tell them about the demon-fox, they were told that the reason would only be revealed if Naruto were found again.

Sakura couldn't help feeling heartbroken; Naruto had done so much for her, and she couldn't even help him when something was wrong in his life. Sasuke just scoffed and mumbled something to the point of "dobe, I won't go chasing after you," which promptly earned him a slap for Sakura; that action surprised Sasuke, Kakashi and also Sakura.

Out of all of Team 7, Sakura was probably the most effected, because she realized that the only things she had ever done for Naruto was ignore him, tell him off and/or yell at him. Now he gone and she couldn't apologize, she couldn't make up for everything she had done to him.

She tried to put herself in his shoes and realized that the only two emotions that she came out with against herself were anger and resentment. She wondered how he could always be so happy and optimistic. She desperately wanted to apologize to him, but knew that that was impossible now. Whenever she was alone in her bedroom and not out on missions to look for him, she would constantly remember her lost teammate and tears would always find their way to her eyes and she would eventually cry herself to sleep.

Sasuke may not have shown it in public, but did miss his friend/teammate/rival and would do his hardest on those search-and-rescue missions and blame himself went they came back empty handed. He had finally realized that that old saying was right 'you don't know what you have until it's gone.' He had a friend and now he had lost him. Then he thought about Sakura, she was annoying, but still she was a friend. She may not leave the village, but would she stop being his friend if he kept acting cold? He thought that maybe he should at least try to acknowledge her.

The rest of the rookie nine and Gai's team (that are in any condition to be told the news) were absolutely shocked by Naruto's actions. Ino tried to label him as an idiot, but no one else seemed to support that idea and she soon gave up (especially after she noticed that both her teammates regarded Naruto with respect). Shino, as usual, did not say much except that if Naruto left willingly then he must have had a good reason. Lee, who was now chained to the hospital bed to keep him from escaping, said that Naruto was not the kind of person to leave his dream behind like that without VERY good reasons and very actively supported the theory that he must have been kidnapped by someone. However strongly hopping that it wasn't Orochimaru.

By the time Chouji had recovered enough to be back on his team the search was called off and Chouji was forever left with the guilt of not being able to help his friend. Soon after the teams were re-arranged as follows:

Team 7 now consisted of: Sasuke, Sakura and Tenten.

Team 10: Ino, Chouji, and Lee.

Team 8 stayed the same.

Team Gai was dissolved and he was given new rookies to train. However he would often hold private training sessions with Lee (that is after Lee had been let out of the hospital).

After the end of the three months after Naruto left, everyone except Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi, Hinata and Sakura believed Naruto to have gone forever. Only those five brave souls dared hope and pray for Naruto to come back someday. They swore a silent mutual agreement that they would always keep their eyes open for their blonde, happy, loud and hyperactive friend.

* * *

Back with Naruto

In contrast to the dread that was being felt by his teammates, these last three months where so of the happiest Naruto had ever had.

Naruto now had teachers that liked him, or at least seemed to like him, that seriously trained him. Not like Kakashi or Ero-sennin, who would rather be doing anything else except training him, Itachi-sensei and Kisame-sensei wanted Naruto to get stronger. This was probably one of the most important reasons that Naruto finally threw away his mask completely and let his true intelligence and cold mood show.

By the end of the three months of probation Naruto was already carrying around an extra 300 pounds in his suit. His morning warm-up was to run around the training room 200 times and do 200 push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and tree punching. He could easily maintain balance on a ball for 2 hours straight without even breaking a sweat. His chakra control had also increased ten-fold, Itachi had Naruto walk up and down the entire mountain. Not only that Naruto could climb up the mountain on only his fingertips (using chakra of course).

If was at this point that Itachi approached Naruto and told him that they would begin ninjutsu and genjutsu training. Naruto was excited beyond belief.

"However before we start Naruto," said Itachi "I think we should go have a talk with a friend of yours."

"Friend…?" asked Naruto uncertainly. Then thinking it was someone from Konoha added "I'm not going back to that village."

"No, no Naruto we have no intention of going to Konoha of all places" replied Itachi.

"Then. What 'friend' are you talking about?" asked a bewildered Naruto.

"A friend that had been with you your entire life" calmly replied Itachi.

'_My entire life…' _thought Naruto '_who the… no way…' _

Naruto's face paled slightly, "You don't mean…?"

Before he could finish Itachi grinned and said, "Oh yes, your furry friend…"

* * *

A/N: sry about the grammar, half of this was WUI (writen under the infuence) XD.

after writing this it looks like im gona have to introduce most of the akatsuki members (this wasnt originally planed...). no real prob just longer chaps that will take longer to write

**peter kim - **orochimaru wont show up until later. I REALLY wont say anymore since i dont want to spoil the story (this kinda stuff is way too long term; meaning it could easily be changed)

next chapter... well i think u can guess at least the 1st part...


	6. Training

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately). I do own all of my own characters.

thank you to all my reviewers!!! you ppl r so nice :-)

now a little Q&A

Q: will you have anything more on shino though?  
A: u know its kinda hard to write about shino, theres just not that much info in the manga

Q: can u make kyubi scare itachi?  
A: you'll c in this chapter

Q: is naruto a bad guy or a good guy now?  
A: not telling... read and find out :-)

Q: didn't itachi say the same thing in the story Gone?  
A: first off what 'thing'? but nvm that... it could be... however i did have to re-read parts of "Gone" to remember wat it was about... so i sure as hell dont remember individual lines

Q: is naruto is going back?  
A: yeah naruto does come back (read the summary)

Q: will there be any couples?  
A: kind of... dont expect much (if any) romance; it'll probly be SasuSaku; ShikaIno; LeeTen; NaruHina (this one is... um... -evil smile-)

"blah" = speech

'_blah_' = thoughts

'**blah**' = Kyuubi's speech

Chapter 6 – Training

"Naruto the time has come for us to go talk with the Kyuubi" said Itachi.

"But… but… how?" asked Naruto "I mean ME talk with the Kyuubi is no big deal, but how are you going to do that?"

"Mange-sharingan" calmly answered Itachi.

Naruto paled when he realized what Itachi was talking about.

'_That thing that he did to Sasuke… and then he couldn't wake up without the old hag's help…' _remembered Naruto.

Seeing Naruto's scared expression Itachi reassured him, "don't worry Naruto, it wont be the same jutsu I used to Sasuke. I wont inflict damage upon you."

"Alright fine, lets do it" said Naruto.

'**Well kid looks like we're gonna see each other face-to-face again' **

Itachi and Naruto sat down in a comfortable meditating position and Itachi switched his eyes to reveal the sharingan.

"Naruto, just look into my eyes… and relax" said Itachi and activated the jutsu.

The last thing Naruto saw, before everything turned black, was the redness of Itachi's eyes and it seemed as though the 3 black dots began to spin around.

The next thing Naruto knew, he was on his knees in that familiar murky corridor with the yellow walls and water that goes up to your ankle. Except this time was different, he noticed a black figure next to him; he looked up to see that it was Itachi.

'_So this is what the inside of that seal is like…' _thought Itachi.

In the distance they could hear growling and snorting.

Naruto got up and started walking toward the sound.

'_This menacing aura unnerves even me.' _Itachi shivered slightly_ 'Yet Naruto seems to be fearlessly going straight towards it.'_

Naruto looked back when he saw that Itachi was not following, instead he was still looking around the corridor.

"Come on," said Naruto "there's nothing to see here."

Naruto and Itachi steadily made their way down the corridors and passages until they saw what looked like a door of light. Stepping thought it, Itachi was amazed to see the great gate looming several dozen feet in the air. It had some intricate designs around the edges and there was a piece of paper with the kanji "Sealed" written on it.

'_Behind those bars lies one of the most powerful demons in the world.'_

This thought made Itachi slightly uncomfortable, since he could sense the amount of power that was behind the gate.

Suddenly out of the darkness appeared giant red eyes and white, very pointy, teeth. Itachi shook lightly as he laid eyes on the Kyuubi.

'_Wow, it's… enormous…'_ were about the only thoughts that Itachi had at that moment.

"Long time no see, fox" said Naruto, not very politely.

**"Yes, we can once again converse with each other face-to-face" **said the Kyuubi.

Itachi was still speechless.

"**Nice to see come visit this dark, ugly, partially flooded home of mine"** said the Kyuubi with resentment.

"Well what the hell do you want me to do about it?" countered Naruto.

"**Well since it's YOUR mind you may as well try refining it"**

"It's your cage, you decorate" argued Naruto.

"**And what the hell am I supposed to use for decorations? You ungrateful little kid" **roared the Kyuubi.

"Well you seem to have plenty of fur that is going to waste…" said Naruto sarcastically.

"**ARGH!" **roared the Kyuubi "**That is not funny kid!"**

The argument between the kid and the demon continued on for a little while longer, making Kyuubi angrier and angrier.

'_I don't believe this, Naruto is talking with the Kyuubi as if he's… well… just a normal person you meet out on the street. He doesn't seem to care that he's pissing off a great demon' _Thought Itachi.

The Kyuubi finally noticed Itachi's presence and decided to address him in an effort to change the subject.

"**Naruto, looks like you brought a friend with you today"** said the Kyuubi.

"Huh? Oh yea… this is my sensei, Uchiha Itachi" introduced Naruto.

"**A guy? Why couldn't you bring a girl? They are a lot tastier you know" **said the Kyuubi licking his lips.

Itachi flinched at this last remark.

"What? Itachi-sensei is NOT for eating!" yelled Naruto.

"**Humph… so you are the Uchiha prodigy,"** mused Kyuubi "**so why did you come here? A little sigh seeing tour?"** said Kyuubi with a smirk.

Re-gathering his confidence Itachi was finally able to respond, "no I am here to ask you to give you power to Naruto."

"**Give my power to the boy?" **laughed the Kyuubi "**and why the hell should I do that?"**

"Well he is your host and it is only natural that your image reflects on his" said Itachi.

"And because of that don't you want your host to look good and be powerful?" questioned Itachi.

"**Be powerful and look good… yes, yes, I want that…" **mused the Kyuubi.

Suddenly an evil grin crossed the Kyuubi's face.

"**Speaking of looking good, the sharingan looks very good. Especially since it became a rare commodity," **said the Kyuubi in a tone that sent chills down both Naruto and Itachi's spines.

"**Naruto what do you think, we take one of his eyes and then use it as our own?" **the Kyuubi asked with an evil sadistic laugh.

Itachi trembled., '_If he REALLY wanted to take my eye, would I be able to stop him?'_

"DAMN FOX!!! What's wrong with you?" screamed Naruto adding some other quite colorful words.

The Kyuubi had finally managed to calm himself down, he enjoyed watching humans tremble in fear of him. It kind of annoyed him that Naruto wasn't like the rest of them, but on the other hand Naruto was more of challenge; harder to crack than the rest of them… and the Kyuubi enjoyed such challenges in life. Even though he would NEVER admit it, he respected the boy a little bit.

"**More power huh?" **mused the Kyuubi "**Well Naruto I think we can make a deal."**

"What kind of deal?" asked Naruto carefully.

"**Hmm… how about this? The stronger you get the more of my power you will have access to?" **

"How about jutsus?" asked Naruto.

"**Well I'll let your 'scared' sensei there take care of that for now" **Naruto scowled at this.

**"Later on I'll fill in the blanks and teach you some very high-level jutsus"** said the Kyuubi sadistically.

Naruto considered this deal carefully, it didn't seem bad. As long as he trained hard the Kyuubi would give him more and more power.

"Alright I agree, but first you gotta teach me something for all the hard work that I have put in these last few months" said Naruto forcefully.

"**As if!"** growled the Kyuubi "**Now get the hell out of here!"**

With that the Kyuubi sent a wave of chakra at both Itachi and Naruto, and knocked them out to reality.

Naruto woke up to find himself back in his room, lying down on the bed.

Naruto tried to get up, but the pain in his head forced him back down. _'God damn fox, you didn't have to hit me that hard.'_

As soon as he said that though, he felt as urge to perform some sort of jutsu.

'_What the hell? I don't even recognize this order of seals… maybe I'll just wait a little bit before doing the jutsu.'_ Contemplated Naruto.

But as soon as he thought that his headache seemed to increase even more; as if telling him to do the jutsu.

"Fine! Damn it!" said Naruto while getting up from the bed.

"Can't I get sometime to rest and recover" mumbled Naruto as he was going through the seals.

Seal, dog, dragon, bird, horse, ox, tiger. "Fire Wave no Jutsu" yelled Naruto.

He suddenly felt himself surrounded by an immense amount of chakra. Looking down and around himself he saw that it was red chakra those 'physical' form resembled that of a foxtail.

Kisame appeared in front of Naruto with awe in his face, "What the hell is that Naruto?"

'_So I guess the Kyuubi decided to teach me a jutsu after all'_ smiled Naruto.

"This is a jutsu the Kyuubi taught me" calmly answered Naruto.

Kisame blinked in surprise, '_the Kyuubi taught him… well this day just keeps getting more and more interesting.'_

* * *

Flashback 

After having a talk with the leaders of the Akatsuki, Itachi and Kisame were on their way to Naruto.

"So, Itachi-_sensei"_ mocked Kisame "what kind of ninjutsu are we going to teach him first?"

Itachi sent Kisame a death glare, but calmly said, "No, today I'm planning on helping him utilize the Kyuubi's powers."

Kisame was clearly shocked, "and exactly how are you planning to do that?"

"By going into his mind and having a talk with the Kyuubi" said Itachi as if it was an everyday occurrence.

"You're gonna go… and… and…" Kisame blabbered like his for a while trying to recompose himself.

'_He's gonna go see the Kyuubi!? I don't care if it's locked up in a cage, that's a DEMON for crying out loud!'_ thought Kisame.

Finally after several deep breaths, "that's all great Itachi, but what if the Kyuubi refuses?"

"I'm sure we can come to some form of agreement"

"I hope so…" Kisame thought Itachi had finally lost it, but of course didn't say so out loud.

'_Itachi are you insane!? This is a DEMON you're negotiating with. Even you, being you, don't hold anything over it.'_

about an hour later (A/N: this is still in flashback)

Itachi walks in carrying an unconscious Naruto over his shoulder.

"What the hell happened to him?" asked Kisame as he saw Itachi put Naruto on the bed.

"Passed out" Itachi said simply, "guess it strained his mind too much."

Just then there was a knock on the door. Itachi opened the door to reveal a figure in all black with long dark green hair and emerald eyes. (A/N: more on this person later)

A few quick words were exchanged and Itachi made to leave, but turned around and said, "I'm being summoned by the high council; I'll be back in… sometime later."

'_Guess I'll just let the brat sleep. Mental exhaustion, especially when the sharingan is involved, should be allowed to pass naturally.'_

* * *

End Flashback 

"So I take it you and Itachi talked with the Kyuubi." It was more of a question than a statement though.

"Yeah…" said Naruto calmly.

'_I can't believe this kid, he's talking about as if it's a normal, everyday occurrence'_ thought a bewildered Kisame.

Although Kisame wanted to ask Naruto how come he was so calm, he could risk letting the suspect that he was even the littlest bit scared of the fox.

"I see… what did you agree on?" asked Kisame.

"Basically that the more I train the more power the Kyuubi will be willing to give me" said Naruto as he released the jutsu.

Kisame suddenly remember about the new jutsu that Naruto had and asked him about it.

"Oh it's a defensive jutsu, the Kyuubi said that it will keep out almost any kind of attacks" explained Naruto.

"He didn't tell me everything though, so I'm gonna have to play around with it later."

'_I see… a demonic ultimate defense…' _ thought Kisame.

Then the door opened and Itachi walked in.

"Kisame, we have a mission in the Waterfall Country" said a serious Itachi.

"I see," answered Kisame and began packing his things.

Naruto was dismayed, "What about me?" he asked.

"You're coming with us" replied Itachi, "so get packing."

"Alright a mission!" rejoiced Naruto.

"No," said Itachi "the mission is only for Kisame and me, you will just be training."

"Oh…" pouted Naruto.

'_Well, at least I get to travel… better than being stuck inside this hole.'_

The three quickly packed up a few belongings. Itachi presented Naruto with his very own Akatsuki cloak that was of course cut down to fit Naruto. Even though Naruto had grown a little bit due to his intense training routine, he was nowhere need as tall as Itachi or Kisame.

They had a light lunch and set out from their mountain residence. They traveled back the same way they used to come there. After several days of travel they arrived at the Waterfall country without many occurrences.

However during this trip Naruto learned a very valuable skill, the ability to kill.

It occurred at the end of the second day, when they had made camp and were getting ready to go to sleep. Naruto had first watch.

About an hour after Itachi and Kisame fell asleep, Naruto picked up distinct sounds of people sneaking about around them. After just several seconds of listening, Naruto could tell that there were four people; two behind him and two in front. However Naruto stayed perfectly still.

'_So they think I don't notice huh? Well that'll be their undoing'_ thought Naruto while faking a yawn, '_from the feel of their chakra, or lack-thereof, they are just bandits.' _

Naruto smiled inwardly as he heard the two behind him start running towards him, '_Game on…'_

One of the bandits smiled as he hit Naruto in the back with a butcher knife. The smile quickly faded when Naruto disappeared in a cloud of smoke, before the smoke could clear three shuriken had already hit the bandit; one in the back of his head, the other two hit the upper-back. The bandit collapsed dead instantly, still holding the butcher knife, however it was now clearly seen that the knife was lodged tight in a log.

The second bandit, who was running right beside his comrade, saw this and spun around expecting Naruto to attack him from behind. The last thing he saw was the path that he had just come by. Naruto had re-appeared right behind him and stuck his kunai through his neck.

Blood was spraying everywhere as Naruto pulled out his kunai.

'**Ah… the smell and feel of blood… isn't it great?'** asked the Kyuubi obviously satisfied with his vessel.

'_Shut up! Don't make me lose concentration, I still have two more to take care of'_ yelled Naruto.

He spun around prepared to deal with the others in the same way, but found that Kisame and Itachi had already dealt with them.

After seeing this he was surprised that he felt… disappointed.

'_What the hell? Why am I unhappy?'_ thought Naruto.

'**Because they took away OUR kill'** growled an annoyed Kyuubi.

Naruto still couldn't believe it, '_I'm… sad that I didn't… kill them.'_

'**Except it already kiddo, you like blood… just like me…'** said the Kyuubi with a evil grin.

'_No…'_ Naruto tried to deny it weakly.

'**Kid, face it this is what you've always wanted. Ever since you were first exposed to people'** said the Kyuubi as he showed him a memory from his past in Konoha.

With the memory came emotions. Emotions of hate, loneliness, sadness, anger and… '_killer-intent?_' thought a shocked Naruto.

'**Yeah kid, those were your instincts telling to retaliate against those assholes. Why you put with it is beyond me.'**

'_I just wanted to prove them wrong…'_ answered Naruto in a sad tone.

'**And you can still do that,'** said the Kyuubi.

'_What do you mean?' _ asked Naruto confused '_I ran away from the village and killed some of their own people. How can I prove them wrong?'_

'**Don't you see kid? They think, no they believe, that you are WEAK. That they can kill you at anytime. Don't you see it they have been trying to break your resolve to LIVE, all of your life.'**

**'How do you prove them wrong, you ask? Simple use that hate and anger to become stronger' **motivated the Kyuubi.

'_But look at what that did to Sasuke. I don't want to like that.'_

'**No, that idiot LET his hate and anger consume him,'** countered Kyuubi.

'**I said USE your hate and anger. Use it as fuel for your strength, but never and I mean NEVER let it take control of you.' **

**'That was my mistake…' **mumbled the Kyuubi.

'_Huh? What to you mean?' _asked Naruto.

'**Never mind that I might tell you later. The important thing is that you understand and utilize what I have just told you. Will you do that?'**

'_I'll try…'_ said Naruto uncertainly.

'**I won't take any "tries" from you. Just DO IT,'** said the Kyuubi forcefully '**I'll help you out on the way.'**

'_Yes I will'_ said Naruto determinedly.

'**Now, if you'll please notice what is going on in the REAL world' **said Kyuubi sarcastically.

"Oi!! Naruto!!" yelled Kisame.

After not getting a response for the third time, he finally punched him lightly in the face to try and wake him up.

"Ow! That hurts you know!" yelled Naruto.

"Oh, well good to have you back" joked Itachi.

"Get a little freaked out by your first kill" teased Kisame with a grin.

"No… just…" Naruto was unsure whether he should tell them about being able to talk with the Kyuubi.

'_Should I tell them about our arrangement?'_ Naruto asked Kyuubi.

'**Yeah, but just say that you can talk to me and nothing more'**

"Just what?" asked Kisame still grinning.

"I was just having a conversation with the Kyuubi" said Naruto.

Itachi and Kisame were both absolutely shocked.

"You're telling me that you can with the Kyuubi?" asked Itachi then added, "Since we made the deal?"

"No, even before the deal" replied Naruto, "I'd say since I met him in person the first time, when Ero-Sennin pushed me off a cliff."

'_Ero-Sennin, he must mean Jiraiya…' _thought Itachi.

"Why would he try to kill his own student?" asked Kisame.

"He thought that was the quickest way for me to learn to use the Kyuubi's chakra."

'_That's insane! There are dozens of safer ways to learn chakra control' _thought Kisame.

-yawn- "Man, I'm tired" said Naruto "Can we just go to sleep?"

"Of course, as soon as we dispose of these bodies," said Itachi.

They threw the bodies in a hole that Itachi made using an earth jutsu and then went to sleep; Kisame taking the next watch.

* * *

Nine Months Later 

They were sitting in a restaurant in the Water Country, celebrating the one-year anniversary of Naruto's enrollment into the Akatsuki.

While eating his meal Naruto was reminiscing about the last year.

The mission Itachi and Kisame had to the Waterfall Country turned out perfectly and they were soon assigned another one in the Earth Country. The last nine months consisted of constant missions for Itachi and Kisame during which they traveled through many different countries to finally end up in the Water Country. Throughout this time Naruto trained vigorously to build up his taijutsu, ninjutsu and genjutsu. The Kyuubi kept his word and would teach him some jutsus whenever he felt that Naruto had progressed enough. Since it turned out to be a jutsu ever two or three weeks, Naruto assumed that the Kyuubi had so many that it would take Naruto many years to learn everything.

During this time Naruto also became a lot more attached to his teachers, especially Itachi. They seemed to genuinely care for his well being and not just because they were ordered to take care of him. This really showed when they remember his birthday. That day they gave him a day off from training to do whatever, then they took him out to dinner and actually gave him a gift. Naruto was disappointed at first since they gave him a book that seemed to just talk about the human body. However Itachi explained to Naruto, that if he was very well familiar with the human anatomy then he would be able to defeat his opponents faster.

The most surprising thing, for Naruto, was that the Kyuubi also gave him a gift in the form of jutsu. The jutsu turned out to be a summoning contract with the foxes. When Naruto was signing the contract he noticed that his name was the first and only one on the list. This gave him a certain edge in battle since no other person would be able to summon the same thing as him and also because no one probably knew that foxes were available as a summoning.

Naruto thanked everyone greatly, for the first time in his life he felt like he had friends that cared. Naruto even thanked the Kyuubi, but not as much since he didn't want to get soft on the fox.

In terms of training, Naruto now knew most of the fire-jutsus; except the forbidden ones. He knew several earth-jutsus, many that didn't have a type such as teleportation, special sight-jutsus and enhancement-jutsus. He was now starting to learn water-jutsus, which is one of the reasons that the trio came to the Water Country. After reading the human anatomy book Naruto memorized all the critical points on the body and did special kunai and shuriken training so that he would hit those points. Naruto also learned high-level chakra control, so now he used the exact amount he needed and was also able to hide his chakra completely, only Itachi because of the sharingan could tell that Naruto had chakra flowing in him.

Also during this last year Naruto had changed drastically. No more was he the naïve, innocent and loud little boy; now he was calm, collected and very knowledgeable. He learned how to keep his emotions hidden and in check at all times. He no longer joked around, not to say that he lost his sense of humor, he just didn't show it to everyone anymore. Physically Naruto had grown to be only half a head shorter than Itachi, his muscular build was even with Kisame, and his stamina incomparable to wither of them.

After their meal, which Naruto insisted on paying for because he said that he had to repay his teachers somehow, the three Akatsuki members went back to their hotel. All the way back to the hotel Naruto kept thanking them for everything.

"Naruto, you can stop thanking us already" laughed Itachi.

"Yeah, I think we have been thanked more times than anyone in the world" added Kisame.

"I know, I know…" said Naruto enthusiastically "but it's just that you are probably the closest thing I've ever had to family…"

"Oh no, Naruto, you're family was a lot better than us" said Itachi.

"You know about my family?" asked Naruto hopefully.

"Yeah, probably any jounin of the Leaf would know about your family" said Itachi simply then added, "especially your former teacher, Kakashi."

"Really!?" asked Naruto, "Could you tell me about them?"

"Wait, you mean you don't know?" Itachi's eyes widened a little.

"No" answered Naruto sheepishly.

"Well, I don't know a lot" said Itachi, "I know about your father, but not your mother."

"Your father was the Yondaime Hokage, Kazami Arashi" said Itachi. (A/N: I have seen this name used for the Yondaime in several fanfics, so I'm gonna use it too)

Naruto just stared at Itachi with bugged out eyes and an open mouth.

"M-m-m-my father was the Yondaime…" stuttered Naruto, "then he sealed the Kyuubi inside me… why… would… he do… that to me…?"

"Your father was a very honorable and noble man, Naruto. If he could make the sacrifice then there would be no way he would ask some other family in the village" replied Itachi.

'**That's one reason kid, there is another… but it will be better if I show you my memory later'** said the Kyuubi sincerely.

'_Why didn't you tell me before!?'_ said a now angry Naruto.

'**First of all, would you have believe me?'** asked the Kyuubi.

'_Yes!'_ replied Naruto.

'**You say that NOW, but right now that information can't be put to any kind of practical use. And if I were to tell you before, back in Konoha, then you wouldn't have believe me…' **calmly explained the Kyuubi, '**but lets talk about this later, after you go to sleep, well talk in person.'**

'_Alright,'_ agreed Naruto.

"I can't believe Kakashi or Jiraiya for that matter didn't tell you," continued Itachi.

"Why those two in particular?" asked Naruto since he noticed Itachi concentrating on them.

"Simple, Jiraiya trained your father and from what I've heard they were really close. Kakashi was your father's student, Yondaime regarded him as prized pupil and treated him almost like his own son."

"Who else could know?" asked Naruto trying VERY hard to keep his emotions in check.

"Tsunade, Sandaime for sure, most likely any one that jounin rank during the battle with the Kyuubi" said Itachi.

"I found out when I was testing out mange-sharingan on an experienced Uchiha."

"To keep his only son in absolute darkness, that horrible…" said Kisame finally joining in the discussion.

"How did you know? You're from the Mist" asked Naruto.

"Itachi told me, a little while after we started training you" answered Kisame, "I didn't say anything because I thought that you knew and it was probably a hard subject for you to talk about."

"I see…" said Naruto with a slight hint of resentment, then after noticing that they registered his tone he added, "but thank you for telling me… and I'm not mad at you in any way. I just found another reason to hate that village."

Itachi nodded, "lets call it night, shall we?"

"Yeah…" said Naruto, but didn't move.

Itachi walked over to Naruto and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder, "Come on, things will look better after a good nights sleep."

Wordlessly they each went to get ready for bed and fell asleep soon after, all except Naruto who kept thinking about what he just learned.

'_Damn those bastards, they couldn't even tell a simple thing such as who my parents were! Here I am over fourteen years old and NOW I finally find out!'_

Naruto was very angry right now.

'_My teachers, Kakashi and Jiraiya, couldn't tell me. Especially Kakashi, prized pupil of the fourth my ass! If my father treated him like that, why couldn't he just return the fucking favor!?' _

Resentment was now being thrown into the mixing pot of Naruto's emotions.

'_I know why… he's just like the rest of them. Not training me because I'm the Kyuubi's container!'_

_'Most of the older shinobi know that I'm the fourth's son… but that doesn't seem to matter to them does it!? Oh no, doesn't matter at all… they all see the demon fox… their "precious"_ _demon fox.' _Thought Naruto sarcastically.

With these kinds of angry and hateful thought Naruto finally fell asleep.

* * *

In Front of Kyuubi's Cage 

"You know you were right" said Naruto "I wouldn't have believe you while I was in the village."

"Now… it just serves to fuel my anger and hatred and in turn fuel my strength."

"**That's all great, but you've gotta calm yourself a little bit" **said the Kyuubi "**you're letting those two dangerous emotions take a hold of you."**

"True, true…" said Naruto and tried to relax, then remembered something.

"Hey you said that there's a memory you want to show me" said Naruto.

"**Yes…" **said the Kyuubi as he sent out his chakra towards Naruto.

* * *

Kyuubi's Memory 

Naruto was dozens of feet off the ground in a forest. It was the middle of the night and he could see a great fire in the distance. Suddenly to his left he saw a giant toad appear. As the toad got closer, he could see the outline off a man standing on top of it.

Naruto's view was changing, he was turning to face this toad. '_That must be Gamabunta.' _He suddenly saw a bright light appear from the man and felt himself being pulled towards the man. As he got closer he saw that in the man's arms was a baby. '_And that must be me… so that man is the fourth… my father…'_

Before the was sucked in to the boy he heard the man speak, "I'm sorry to do this to you my son, but there is no one else that I can trust with this burden. You are my son and I know that you will be strong enough to protect the Leaf Village. I hope you grow up to become a good man and a good shinobi."

He then saw himself being pulled into the baby and suddenly everything went dark.

* * *

Back Outside the Kyuubi's Cage 

"**That's it, that's the only memory I have of your father, that's the other reason he chose you and last but not least that's the last of my freedom."**

Naruto remained silent for a long while trying to sort out everything that he had just learned about his family.

"Do you know anything about my mother?" asked Naruto.

"**No" **said the Kyuubi, "**if you want information I suggest you find an old Konoha-nin and beat it out of him."**

Naruto chuckled at this, but realized that that was probably the only way.

"Someday I WILL find out about my late family," Naruto promised himself, "but for now I can't risk returning to Konoha."

* * *

For the next two and a half years, Naruto traveled around the world with Itachi and some other Akatsuki-nin. Kisame had taught him all the water-jutsus he knew, or at least all he was willing to teach. Afterwards he was forced to leave and was replaced by another member of the Akatsuki.

His new teacher was a Cloud-nin, named Raiko. Raiko was also a tall man much like Kisame, he had short silver hair that was as spiky as Naruto's and teal eyes. Beneath his Akatsuki cloak he wore a blood red jacket, underneath which was a blue shirt. He wore dark blue pants that came down to cover half of his shins, but his tall black boots covered anything his pants didn't.

Raiko taught him electric-jutsus, for which Naruto seemed to have a natural affinity. After Raiko was done with him, Naruto could infuse almost all of his jutsus with electricity. It turned out that the Kyuubi knew several very high level Raiton Kinjutsus that it taught him.

After Raiko came a Grass-nin, named Miya. Miya was about as tall as Itachi, she had long dark green hair and emerald eyes (A/N: sound familiar? Also they all wear the Akatsuki cloak so I won't mention it anymore). She wore a black jacket that had the right sleeve torn off and her right arm was bandaged, under the jacket… well she never took off her jacket. She wore green and brown camouflage pants and black shoes.

Miya specialized in poisons, but also taught Naruto how to 'summon' vines that could hold your opponents and/or transmit poisons, or you could just wrap up your opponent in these vines and they would crush him or her. It turned out that because of the Kyuubi, Naruto had a natural resistance to poison. This meant that poison would either not affect him at all or the effects would be weakened by A LOT. This gave Naruto a serious upper hand, since he didn't have to worry about staying out of the way of his own poison.

During his training Naruto managed to befriend every single one of his teachers. His relationship with Itachi also grew to a point where they could share anything with each other. (A/N: for those of you sick people out there, NO IT WAS NOT A SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP)

Naruto told him about his life early in the Leaf, about the people or rather person that he could still consider a friend there, he also told him about Sasuke and his attempt to gain power from Orochimaru.

Itachi in turn told Naruto about his earlier life and also explained the events that led up to the Uchiha massacre and why he left Sasuke alive (A/N: no I won't elaborate).

All in all, Naruto saw him as an older brother that he never had an occasionally would address him as 'Itachi-onii-chan' but only in private.

It was after his training with Miya was done that Kisame came back and told them that they had a mission. This was to be Naruto's first mission for the Akatsuki.

"I will elaborate on the details later" said Kisame, "but now we need to move out."

"Where are we going?" asked Naruto.

"To the Hidden Stone Village" replied Kisame.

* * *

A/N:

1) Those bandits are naruto's first kills, because the ANBU before them were actually killed by the kyuubi.

2) Also you probably noticed that the kyuubi isnt that evil in my fic. well i dont really want him to be, however dont regard him as NICE, he's still got his thirst for blood, but he's just melowed out over the years of imprisonment. (i hope that made sense).

3) i know im skiping over a lot of the training, but there will be flashbacks later on, that discuss parts of naruto's training.

4) why did i bother to describe the akatsuki members?   
because some will appear later on in the story... (small spoiler).


	7. Mission

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately). I do own all of my own characters.

"blah" = speech

'_blah_' = thoughts

'**blah**' = Kyuubi's speech

A/N: a lot of ppl are saying that i copied the jutsu that naruto has in "gone" well i REALLY believe that the kyuubi would have an ultimate defense just like shukaku and this is just the best one really... i actually got this (and another) idea from "acknowledgement" so kudos to Xaerox, however i will be modifying the other techinique a little bit.  
i do have original jutsus planned, but they are mostly high level... u'll c them A LITTLE later...

haku and ookami-kun - by the end of this chapter your questions should be answered

Zsych - i purposely made this a naruto missing-nin fic

* * *

> > Chapter 7 – Mission

"We have a mission in the Hidden Stone Village" said Kisame.

"We're leaving immediately then" ordered Itachi.

Naruto nodded and instantly adopted a serious attitude. They packed up and left, Kisame estimated the trip to take three days.

The first day was traveled mostly in silence, except Itachi and Kisame who seemed to be discussing something. Even though Naruto burned with curiosity about his first mission, he decided it better not to ask. He knew that Itachi would fill him in eventually.

Patience is something Naruto had to work hard to learn. While he did learn to be reserved, calm, cold and calculating from Itachi and Kisame, patience was different. To sit quietly for hours on end in ambush or espionage was not something Naruto had been very good at.

Itachi and Kisame were the middle of two extremes they wouldn't mind to sit in ambush, but they wouldn't do it for very long. If it wasn't working it, they would rather go find the enemy and openly attack them.

Reiko, was the type of person that didn't like to wait at all, he wouldn't wait to see what his opponent had in store for him. "Better to strike first and kill your opponent before he can do anything to you" he would say. "But never rush in blindly, and never show off anything high level." Limitations and regulations, they seemed to always follow you around; no such thing as freedom. That was one of the reasons Naruto ultimately developed his own fighting style, to not take orders from anyone. Advice is fine, but orders reminded him too much of Konoha.

Miya, she was the exact opposite of Reiko, she could sit in ambush for days; annoyed the hell out of Naruto. But did ultimately teach him to be patient; actually it was either that or she would beat him up. "It's really your choice you know, either you exert self-control or I force you to exert self-control." However the 'force' part was more like punishment and she always seemed to know exactly how and when to exact revenge. Paralysis jutsus at the most uncomfortable moments, like paralyzing his jaw muscles right before dinner. "Sadistic bitch" was a common nickname Naruto used in the beginning. She wouldn't even get the slightest bit angry and would sometimes smile and thank him for the compliment. Naruto later found out that she was kind of like Itachi, in the sense that right before leaving she left the village a little 'present.' She effectively poisoned their water supply, not to kill them no, rather to make sure every single person stayed in bed for at least a two weeks. Of course the ones with the weaker immune system would die, but hey survival of the fittest right? Anyway she justified it saying that she needed a little head start.

Unlike all his other teachers, Miya, didn't start easy on him, she instantly jumped into advanced training. So training sessions such as ambushing ANBU and/or Hunter-nin was a common practice for her, and she would always have Naruto do the fighting alone. She would help him of course if he was going to die, but otherwise it seemed like she could care less. Now-a-days Naruto thanks her for that since missing-nin can't be taught to rely on teammates; she really prepared him for the harsh really of the real world.

It seemed, to Naruto, that most of the members of the Akatsuki were on good terms with each other. The motto seemed to be "considerate with friends, ruthless with enemies." Naruto didn't mind that at all, he considered Itachi, Kisame, Reiko, and Miya to be friends and most everyone else would then be an enemy. He had long ago forgotten about his former comrades and so called friends from the Leaf.

He saw one of them once; Iruka-sensei was what he used to call him. It was in a small town in the Waterfall Country, Naruto was on a one-day vacation and was wandering about the business district aimlessly. He saw him in a bar arguing with the bartender about something, there was a team of genin waiting impatiently outside muttering something about sensei taking too long. Naruto's curiosity peaked, he hadn't seen anyone from his past since he left and wondered if maybe they were gathering info about him. He followed him for a little while, hoping to hear about what's happened since he left. Instinctively he started making mental notes about each person in the group, assessing their strengths and weaknesses. He wanted to stop himself, but realized that if they were searching for him that this would be valuable information. What would he do if that was the case? Well that one's easy… he'd kill them. '_Sorry sensei'_ Naruto thought in a cold tone '_but I can't have anyone knowing anything about me.'_

Other than that he didn't have any run-ins with people from the past. Sure there were the occasional Leaf ANBU and/or Hunter-nin that he would kill as practice, but that was so routine he didn't even flinch. He remembered that after one of their training sessions, Itachi asked him from which village the ninjas were from and after thinking for a little while Naruto found that he couldn't come up with an answer. He had just killed them and disposed of the bodies like routine work. Itachi didn't reply to that in any way, it was his usual open-your-eyes-to-something and then leave you to figure out what it all means by yourself.

On one hand it scared Naruto, that he could just kill people so easily. But on the other hand, Naruto figured that as long as they weren't important to him it didn't really matter.

* * *

Suddenly Itachi's voice snapped Naruto out of his reminiscing, "we're going to camp here for the night."

'_Night already huh?'_ thought Naruto.

That's just how his mind worked, replacement, if you can't think of one thing then make yourself think of something else. '_A sort of Mind Kawarimi no Jutsu if you will,_' Naruto chuckled slightly.

As usual dinner, as any other meal, was eaten in silence. This was a practice they observed because they found that ambushes usually came when you were peacefully eating and seemingly unaware of the surrounding world. After dinner they were finally able to discuss the import business.

Itachi's voice broke the silence, "Naruto, it's time you knew what this mission consists of."

Naruto turned his head and listened intently.

"First of all, we have to sneak into the Hidden Stone, which shouldn't be too difficult."

"Second, we have to locate the Kutouji estate, and get in there without alerting the Stone ANBU."

"Third, the actual orders, we have to kill the Kutouji clan members" said Itachi in a cold tone.

"There's something special about this clan, isn't there?" asked Naruto.

"Yes, they are of an advanced bloodline" replied Itachi.

Naruto's eyebrow lifted slightly, "what kind of advanced bloodline?" asked Naruto cautiously.

"They have the ability to create golems out of stone, dirt, mud, anything that is part of the earth" said Kisame.

"Don't worry, Naruto" said Itachi "all that's left of this clan is just a father and son."

"You will fight with the kid and Kisame and I will fight the head of the clan."

Naruto nodded in agreement; not that he could change their decision even if he had disagreed.

Well this would certainly prove to be an interesting battle and he had 2 days to plan for it. The golems would most likely be like his chakra re-enforced kage bushin, '_I wonder how agile they will be?'_ Since that would ultimately determine who he goes for first the golems or the real enemy.

A few things are already certain about the golems: lightning is no good, poison is no good, wind is worth a try, water would probably be good, earth fighting earth doesn't seem productive, and fire is also worth a try.

Now for the boy: if he has other things do his biding then he might be weak in taijutsu, ninjutsu we'll just have to see and same for genjutsu. That's the thing about chakra using techniques you can't tell how good a person is with them until you either observe them fighting or fight them yourself. Since the former was definitely out, Naruto would have to find out the hard way. Perhaps take a few hits, make himself look weak, all the while working on a counter-attack.

Two Days Later

They stood in front of large metal gates with the Stone symbol carved into them. This was it, the point of no return, once inside they would have to complete the mission. However the trio was unfazed, they simply kept walking forward with absolute confidence.

Itachi activated his Mangekyou Sharingan and the guard didn't even question them.

'_Part one: complete'_ thought Naruto, even though he knew that he didn't do anything.

Finding the Kutouji clan residence was no problem, they seemed to be well known in the Stone. Getting in was done in much the same way, just a lot more cautiously and also Itachi made sure to disable the guards; the bodies of which were quickly hidden.

'_Part two: complete'_ thought Naruto '_now comes the hard part… part three…'_

"They are on the far side of the compound," whispered Naruto "training most likely."

Heightened senses made search-and-destroy missions, or training sessions as it was for Naruto, so easy.

His senses confirmed the information, there were only two people training and the guards didn't seem to be numerous or paying too much attention.

"We best attack while they are training," said Itachi in a low voice "we can't take chances on other ninjas showing up."

Kisame and Naruto nodded in agreement and moved toward their enemies.

They soon saw two figures, one was resting against a tree and the other was doing some sort of earth jutsu.

'_Based on chakra levels the latter is the kid'_ thought Naruto.

The boy suddenly stopped his jutsu halfway through to look at the intruders, diverting his father's attention to the approaching trio.

The man got up and yelled out, "Who are you and what are you doing here!?"

"Our identities do not concern you," calmly replied Itachi "and we are here for your heads."

The boy visibly stiffened for a second, then became relaxed once again, however this small change did not go unnoticed by Naruto. '_So a little scared of death now aren't we?'_

"You are not our enemies," replied the man once again "leave now or we will be forced to fight you!"

"Then you shall have to fight us" said Itachi coldly.

As Itachi and Kisame prepared to battle, Naruto beckoned to the boy that he was going to fight him one-on-one. The boy proudly accepted Naruto's challenge and they both jumped a ways to the side to have more room to battle.

'_Lets start off simple,'_ thought Naruto.

He then gathered the required chakra and made two Kage Bushin appear on either side of the Stone-nin. Not normal Kage Bushin, but chakra re-enforced Kage Bushin. Naruto always makes this special kind now-a-days since the normal kind are just worthless in a real battle. The boy was shocked that Naruto was able to perform ninjutsu without the use of seals.

Naruto smirked at the Stone-nin's reaction, '_training pays off… even if I can only do this with simple jutsus.' _

The clones attacked the Stone-nin using only taijutsu, one going for the legs the other for the torso and head. The Stone-nin was able to dodge the clones' attacks and after gaining some distance did several hand seals and slammed his palms into the ground "Secret Jutsu: Clay Golem."

Naruto then saw three mounds of earth rise up and form themselves into the shape of a person.

'_So this is what they look like,'_ mused Naruto '_now to test them.'_

He instantly had his Kage Bushins attack the golems. While the golems certainly lacked in speed and couldn't always block or dodge his clones' attacks, they sure packed a punch. Both of his special Kage Bushins were destroyed in just three or four hits.

Without a moment of hesitation the Stone-nin had his golems attacking the real Naruto. Naruto parried and dodged the attacks easily and noted that the golems were fighting on a chuunin level.

Just when he was about to counter-attack, Naruto felt some chakra below him '_shit, he's going to attack me with ninjutsu while I'm distracted fighting his golems with taijutsu… then I have to get serious.'_

Naruto jumped up right before the ground under him exploded. He pushed himself off the heads of one of the golems, sending it into the others slowing them down a little bit. While in mid-air, Naruto already started doing the necessary hand seals for his jutsu. He completed the hand seals several seconds after landing, "Suiton: Water Explosion no Jutsu" said Naruto in a faint voice. Before the golems could react they were swallowed up by the water and carried away about 50 feet before being slammed into a wall.

The water had torn apart the clay and hence rendered the golems useless. Naruto attention was now switched to the Stone-nin and Naruto smirked at the frown on his face.

The Stone-nin then started doing the same hand seals as he had done a little while ago. Naruto knew better than to let him finish and instantly charged at him whispering, "Split." From the Stone-nin's perspective there was only one Naruto charging at him, but in reality the Stone-nin was just seeing the clone and the real Naruto was stealthily making his way behind his opponent.

(A/N: Split Copy Kage Bushin (Split): The clone comes out of the user's body. Basically imagine a soul leaving a body; same type of image except it's not the soul but a clone. If the clone charges forward it looks like the real person is charging forward; if any other direction most people would write it off as genjutsu. Both being terrible mistakes in battle.)

Naruto's clone charged forward, but right in front of the Stone-nin he suddenly disappeared and reappear behind him and made to punch him in the back of the head. The Stone-nin countered via Kawarimi replacing himself with a rock.

The Stone-nin smirked, "Doton: Spike" suddenly the ground under the clone spiked up into a spear and sliced the clone's left leg. "Doton: Land Bind" the earth crawled up the clone's legs up to about his knees and solidified. Thinking that victory was his the Stone-nin relaxed and calmly walked over to the clone.

Just as the Stone-nin raised his kunai to slit the clone's throat, he felt a presence behind him and cold metal against his own throat.

"You underestimated me," said Naruto in a cold tone "and you assumed too much."

The Stone-nin shifted uncomfortably and tried to break from Naruto's hold, but was unsuccessful.

"Now I can assume a fact…" Naruto pulled his katana away slightly, but then returned it with full force and chopped out the Stone-nin's head. As the body fell to the ground lifeless he added, "that you're dead."

Naruto wiped his bloody katana and put in back in its sheath that hung behind his head. Then looked over and saw that Itachi and Kisame seemed to be winning and sighed contently.

'**Hey kid, take that scroll your enemy has' **suddenly said the Kyuubi making Naruto flinch in surprise.

Naruto took the scroll and looked at it, "Doton Jutsu Mastery" was written on the cover.

'_It's probably something to do with their blood limit'_ thought Naruto.

'**Maybe or maybe not,'** calmly replied the Kyuubi, then noticing the hesitation in Naruto's mind added '**just take it! If it is worthless you can practice one of your fire jutsus on it.'**

'_The fire jutsus I need practice with are all a bit too big for a scroll.'_

'**Get off your high chair! You don't know EVERYTHING there is in the world!'** growled the Kyuubi.

'_Fine, fine…'_ grumbled Naruto.

Although it was true that Naruto wasn't that good with earth jutsus. He knew some, but he didn't use them very often mostly because he said that by the time you put your palm(s) on the ground your enemy could have already gained a better position. Even though Itachi didn't share his point of view, he didn't bother pursuing him with further training for two reasons:

1) Naruto, being as stubborn as he is, wouldn't back off his point.

2) Naruto was already proficient in Raiton, Suiton and Katon.

So Doton wasn't really necessary.

Naruto pocketed the scroll, grabbed his enemy's head and went to meet up with Itachi and Kisame, who he saw had now completed their battle.

Itachi took a look at Naruto, saw the head he was carrying and nodded in approval. Kisame threw Naruto a bag to put the head in.

"Lets get out of here," said Kisame "we are unwelcome."

With that the three vanished running towards the nearest exit.

Naruto noticed that getting out always seemed to be more bothersome than getting in. '_They always fight to hold you in, but are much more mellow when it comes to holding you out' _Naruto pondered this while slitting a guards throat and jumping over the wall to disappear into the surrounding forest. (A/N: Kisame taught Naruto how to use a katana)

Several Days Later

They appeared before the Akatsuki council and reported their mission complete. The three leaders acknowledged this and for the first time in three and a half years actually introduced themselves to Naruto.

Roeto was the leader of the Akatsuki, it seemed that he started it with the help of Kane who was second in command. Hajeko was the first member and resided on the council because he didn't have any missions.

Roeto also informed them of the death of one of the teams of the Akatsuki, Roeto did mention the names but since they didn't mean anything to Naruto he simply forgot them.

This combined with the fact that Naruto was now ready, is why they decided to split up the trio. Itachi and Kisame would go back to being a two-man team and Naruto would join up with Raiko.

Roeto then dismissed Naruto and bade him to make himself comfortable here until Raiko arrived from him mission. Itachi and Kisame were no doubt given another mission since Naruto didn't see them later that night. Raiko arrived in a few days and they were given another mission for which they set out immediately.

Year and a Half Later

Naruto was relaxing on the couch of his room at the Akatsuki headquarters after getting back from a mission.

A lot has happened during the last year and a half. He did several missions with Raiko for the next six months. Some were assassination missions, others were to steal something or other usually scrolls. It was after returning from one of these missions, he learned that Kisame was killed during his previous mission.

The teams were rearranged once again and Naruto was back with Itachi as a teammate. Naruto mourned the loss of one of his dear friends, but did not let it get in the way of his job. He asked Itachi for the details many times, but Itachi either turned him down or managed to change the subject. Naruto finally gave up, hoping that one day Itachi would tell him, but until Naruto would give him his space.

More missions followed, although the missions didn't seem to have any sort of logic to them. It looked as if the Akatsuki was using random hit-and-run tactics. This of course did not sit well with the members at all. Considering all of the Akatsuki members were Class S Missing-nin who could just as easily be doing random hit-and-runs on their own and get a lot more out of it. Sure they were paid, but it seemed that it wasn't nearly enough. Half of the stuff they were stealing was easily worth three times as much on the black market. Tensions were high, yet the organization seemed to hold together.

Naruto didn't care about this much, knowing that if there was a split he would follow Itachi. What was the Akatsuki for Naruto? Well what began as a way to rebel against Konoha was now nothing more than a shell that told him who to kill or what to steal.

He had to admit he didn't like being ordered about by a bunch of strangers. Why did he stay there? The only reason he could find was his 'big brother.' Naruto respected, trusted and looked up to Itachi. Itachi knew all this of course, but he wasn't a person to openly show affection. Itachi also sometimes wondered whether Naruto could beat him or not. Neither would challenge each other to a real fight though, sparring was fine, but neither wanted to fight to the death. For Naruto because Itachi-onii-chan was like the family he never had and for Itachi because Naruto was also like family, but in a different way. Naruto understood him… Naruto understood why he did what he did, Naruto understood his relationship with Sasuke a lot better than Sasuke did himself.

'_Sasuke-no-baka…' _chuckled Naruto. Someday maybe Naruto would beat it into Sasuke, but for now he was content with the knowledge that the so-called genius couldn't even figure out his own family relations.

* * *

Just then Itachi walked in with a scroll in his hand and slammed the door to bring Naruto back to the real world.

Naruto glanced at Itachi, "so… new mission?"

"Yeah, this one's interesting" said Itachi in an amused voice.

"Hmm really, so what are we doing?" asked Naruto in a passive tone.

"It's more like what YOU are doing?" Itachi continued in the same voice.

'_Great guessing games again… Itachi just loves this stuff, he has information which I have no way of knowing and then teases me with it…' _

"What do you mean?" asked Naruto in a half bored tone.

"It's a solo mission for you," replied Itachi with a slight smile.

Naruto raised his eyebrows slightly, '_Since when does the Akatsuki send ME on solo missions? Hell since when does it send ANYONE on solo missions?'_

"Where?" asked Naruto.

"A very interesting place" replied Itachi.

"Amuse me," said Naruto in a very bored, but slightly frustrated tone.

Itachi smiled and said the one word that almost made Naruto fall off the couch, "Konoha."

* * *

A/N: if u feel that im rushing it then sorry, but i really wanna get to the "reunioun" chapters.

before anyone asks, naruto is not evil, he's just cold hearted towards anyone he doesnt consider a friend. (although this is more for chapter 8...)

another thing this is fiction, so plz dont say its unrealistic


	8. Happy? Reunion

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Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately). I do own all of my own characters. 

thank you to all my reviewers!!! you ppl r so nice :-)

"blah" = speech

'_blah_' = thoughts

'**blah**' = Kyuubi's speech

A/N:

Jenniyah - yea... sure... -nervous laugh- no i will i will. thanx for reminding me about that little detail though.

opposingforce - battles w/ leaf nins, thats what... ehhh... just read. ur right i do have an outline for the story.

joekool - i'm not gonna spoil the story for you, so sry i cant answer ur question

gelionlegends - more on kisame's death later. also naruto's sword style is different from kisame's.

timeshifter16 - naruhina... you might get an idea from this chapter, but ireally dont want to say anything about it.

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Chapter 8 – Happy? Reunion

A solitary figure stood outside the wooden gates of Konoha. He was clad in almost all black. He had black travel shoes, black pants with multiple pockets and had a kunai holster on his right leg. He had a black jacket, the left sleeve of which was cut off at the elbow. His left arm was bandaged from the shoulder down to the wrist. He wore a black facemask. His dark blue eyes seemed to be somewhat violet and his dirty blonde hair had streaks of red going through it. If his hair didn't completely cover his ears, one would see that they were slightly pointed and had orange-red hair growing on top. He wore his forehead protector tied around the upper part of his left arm. The forehead protector had the Hidden Grass Village's symbol on it.

'_Never thought I would come back here again… especially under these circumstances,'_ mused Naruto.

'_Five years… and here I am… last time my back was to the gates, this time my front,'_ Naruto sighed deeply, '_my source of pain is right there in front of me…' _

Images flashed in Naruto's head, the stares, the glares, the abuse, the mocking, the put-downs, and much more. Naruto shook his head to rid himself of all this shit, '_this isn't a revenge trip; can't let my feelings get in the way.'****_

Flashback

"I'm going WHERE!?" yelled Naruto jumping up to his feet.

"Konoha," calmly answered Itachi.

"KONOHA!?"

"Yes, the Hidden Leaf Village in the Fire Country"

"I know what Konoha is…" said Naruto in an annoyed voice.

"Then why do you keep asking?" said Itachi with a grin.

Naruto let out a frustrated sigh, but seemed to calm down a bit, "Konoha, huh?"

Naruto scoffed, "Why are they sending ME of all people?" asked Naruto in a disgusted tone. Then continued in a sarcastic tone, "What, do they want me murder everybody?"

Itachi sharply breathed out of his nose and threw Naruto the scroll.

Naruto opened it and quickly skimmed through it, his eyebrows rising more and more as he went through the scroll.

"Well, this is certainly interesting" said Naruto.

"Wouldn't it be better to go AFTER the jounin exam is over?" asked Naruto in a contemplative tone, "I mean the security will be less, once the hype is over."

"Getting in, for foreigners, is easier this way" replied Itachi.

"True, all I have to do it take an identity from some other village," said Naruto "but wouldn't it be better if both of us go? I mean it'd be less suspicious."

"Yes, it would be better," said Itachi "however management said something about testing your power or showing off your power."

"If a single ninja can do THIS, then what about a group… right?" questioned Naruto rhetorically "this would be the Akatsuki's show of power."

"'Interpret it as you will,'" that's what Roeto said.

"In that case… I'll have to choose a village with an initially small amount of people…"

"If you unroll the scroll a bit more you will see that the list of contestants is already prepared" informed Itachi.

Naruto did as instructed and saw the list, '_so management is being helpful for once.'_

"Hmm… either this one or that one… wait a second… the Grass will do perfectly," mused Naruto, "they are only sending two people."

'_I just hope at least one is a guy, I wouldn't want to fight while in Sexy no Jutsu form…' _chuckled Naruto, '_come to think of it, I have done that in a LONG while… ah… the memories of youth…'_

Naruto smile quickly faded, '_the happy ones at least…'_

"The Leaf always seems to have the most," said Naruto.

"The hosting village does usually have the most participants," explained Itachi.

"All right, off to find the Grass participants and get a new identity" said Naruto heading to the door.

"Good luck, Naruto" said Itachi with a small smile, "I'll be on the outskirts of the village, throughout the exam, just in case."

"Thanks, take care of your self" said Naruto and rushed out.

"You too, kiddo, you too" said Itachi in a caring voice "you've got the more dangerous assignment."

"Going back to your home village is always difficult for people like us…" whispered Itachi in a distant voice.

The list is as follows:

Leaf – 11; Sand – 3; Stone – 6; Snow – 3; Mist – 6; Waterfall – 4; Rain – 7; Grass – 2; Cloud – 5.

End Flashback

'_Well here goes… mission start…'_ Naruto thought as he calmly walked toward the gates.

As soon as he got close enough, a guard motioned him to stop and asked for his papers.

"Nazashi of the Grass, huh?" asked the guard "Attending the jounin exam?"

"Yes," answered Nazashi. (A/N: From now on, until I say otherwise, I'll refer to Naruto by his fake identity)

"Aren't you coming a little late, I mean the exam starts tomorrow" said the guard.

"I was delayed…" answered Nazashi simply and then added, "on a mission."

"Understandable…" replies the guard still looking through the papers.

"Hey, it says here that there should be two ninjas from the Hidden Grass," questioned the guard.

"There should have been, but… she was killed on her previous mission," Nazashi managed to answer sadly.

'_It's partly true… she was killed… by me… well both of the ninjas from the Grass were… but we don't have to go into details.'_

"I see…" said the guard "well your papers are in order, so you are clear to pass. You'll find the hotel about half a mile down this street."

'_As easy as a walk in the park…' _

"Thank you" replied Nazashi politely and walked away.

'_Back in Konoha… still can't get my mind around that concept.'_

'_Focus, Nazashi, focus you have a mission to do and it's not to get reacquainted with old comrades.'_

Naruto found and checked-in to the hotel without a problem. The reserved room had two beds that Nazashi moved together to become one.

He dropped off his bag and sat down on the bed, '_should I scout now or do it later?'_

Nazashi decided to get some needed rest, since the exam was the next day.

As he un-strapped his kunai holster, he held it in his hand for a second and looked thoughtfully at it.

'_Just when I got used to throwing knives, I'm forced to use kunai again. But I can't help it, gotta blend in and throwing knives don't commonly replace kunai.'_

Nazashi held out an open hand with his fingers out stretched and tightened his muscles slightly. Watching amused as his fingernails lengthened into claws about two inches long.

'_It's like holding five kunai,' _Nazashi smiled,_ 'and these are a lot more versatile. Another thing is that if I pour more chakra into them they'll grow even more.'_

Nazashi sighed deeply, '_Of course, all this came at a price…'_

Flashback

Naruto is standing in front of Kyuubi's cage, watching in shock and confusion as the Kyuubi's chakra leaks out of the gates and all over the walls and floor.

"Kyuubi, what the hell is going on?" yells Naruto.

"**Kid I don't have much time left" **said the Kyuubi.

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Naruto in confusion.

"**I'm sure you have noticed that during the past week your chakra supply seemed to have been growing"** said the Kyuubi and Naruto nodded. "**Well that is because I'm merging with you."**

"Merging? What will be the effects of this and what's going to happen to you?"

"**Your body will probably have some physical changes and perhaps psychological. I'm not sure exactly what will happen. As for me I'll be absorbed into you… and won't have to sit in this cage anymore"** said the Kyuubi with a slight smirk.

"Will I still be able to talk to you?"

"**Not likely kid"** said the Kyuubi in a passive tone "**anyway I called you here to give you a farewell gift."**

**"**Really? What is it?"

"**Just take off your jacket and hold out your left arm" **instructed the Kyuubi.

Naruto did as he was told. The Kyuubi then sent some chakra toward Naruto, which then surrounded Naruto's left arm completely and swirled around for about a minute. During this time Naruto felt such great pain in his left arm that he had to drop to his knees and grit his teeth to keep from screaming.

He had experienced this kind of pain before when Kyuubi modified his eyes to accommodate a special eye jutsu, so he knew that the rewards were well worth the price.

Finally the pain stopped and the chakra was absorbed into Naruto's body instead of returning to the Kyuubi.

"**See kid, my own chakra doesn't return back to me."**

Naruto looked at his left arm and saw burning red symbols painted on it.

"**It's a tattoo, kid, the glowing red will soon cool down to black."**

**"**Tattoo? What kind of tattoo?" asked Naruto looking at his arm from all different sides.

"**A summoning contract tattoo…"** said the Kyuubi with an evil smile.

The tattoo consisted of a fox's head drawn on the biceps. From the fox's chin a goatee in the form of a tail extended down from the inside of the elbow all the way down to the wrist and was in the form of a helix. The fox's head also had eight whiskers, four on each side, which snaked around Naruto's arm and the helix, in an intricate design to meet at one point in the middle of the wrist.

(A/N: This contract will be explained later when Naruto uses it.)

* * *

Naruto was sick for three days with a high temperature; he was constantly thrashing around in bed and had occasional chakra flames surrounded him that would destroy anything in their path.

When he finally woke up he found that he grew about a foot, his muscle mass almost doubled, his eyes, ears and hair had changed, his whisker marks were thicker, he had two very sharp fangs that could easily break bones and of course he had the tattoo that the Kyuubi had given him. When asked about the tattoo by Itachi, Naruto simply said that it was a farewell present from the Kyuubi and didn't elaborate anymore.

Psychologically Naruto was mostly unchanged, he became a little bit more possessive of things that were his. He would only need about three to four hours of sleep, occasionally five if he were really exhausted.

His chakra was seemingly unlimited, a Rasengan wouldn't even take away a percent. He never seemed to use up more than 25% of his chakra. He was now blessed with night vision and could interchange his own scent with that of a fox.

The scary thing was that he was constantly figuring out new things that he could do. It seemed that after every battle, or at least after serious ones, there was something new that he learned. Not that Naruto minded at all.

End Flashback

'_That was six months ago… after staying with me for 18 years of my life… he left…'_ thought Naruto sadly.

He had gotten used to having the Kyuubi inside of him. When the Kyuubi merged with Naruto it felt like Naruto had lost a part of his soul. That little voice in the back of his head that advised him.

Naruto sighed, '_never thought I'd miss that fox…'_

Naruto shook his head slightly, '_enough now; time to get to bed, so that I will have a good five or six hours to do some scouting.'_

* * *

Next day the jounin exam participants were set to meet by training area 44 at 9am. Nazashi showed up at about ten minutes to nine.

'_Forest of Death, again? Please not another scroll hunt'_ thought Nazashi, '_well may as well look around and pretend to show some curiosity in the other participants.'_

Nazashi noticed that the villages weren't interacting with each other, but rather stayed in their own groups talking quietly amongst themselves. Nazashi looked around until he spotted the Konoha group and slowly made his way closer to them hoping to hear some interesting details about what happened while he was away.

As he got closer he was able to make out who was taking the exam, he recognized everyone except three people. Sasuke, Ino, Shikamaru, Hinata, Kiba, Tenten, Lee, and Shino. Were the ones he recognized, the others he couldn't even tell which clans they were from and he surely didn't know them.

'_Well that's not good… I need to know who is a liability.'_

Sasuke looked much the same except a bit taller. His hairstyle was the exact same and he also had short diagonal lines going across his cheek, but they were a lot less distinct than Itachi's. He wore the standard chuunin vest over a black shirt with the Uchiha fan on the sleeves, black shorts and standard blue sandals. '_He looks so much like Itachi, it's simply amazing.'_

Ino had tight black shorts and dark red shirt over which she wore her chuunin vest. She had grown out her hair again and it was in the same style as it was five years ago. '_She looks a lot more attractive,'_ smirked Nazashi.

Shikamaru, he looked exactly the same except he was taller and had a beard. '_My god… is he so lazy that he doesn't bother to change his appearance over five years?'_

Hinata still wore the traditional Hyuga clothes, but had grown her hair out and it was now a bit below her shoulders. Also she now had an aura of confidence around her. '_Seems like the shy girl grew up to become a beautiful woman.'_

Kiba wore long black pants with his old gray jacket, Nazashi couldn't tell if he wore a shirt under the jacket or not. '_He looks grown up, but does he act like it?'_ Next to Kiba was Akamaru that now stood as tall as Kiba's mid-thigh; his white fur had taken on a more reddish color. '_That dog means business now.'_

Tenten and Shino seemed to not change at all except in height. '_What is it with this village and lack of change? Damn conservative sons of bitches, everyone probably has the same old mentality about the Kyuubi and their damned demon child…'_ Nazashi had to mentally slap himself to stop these thoughts, since his left hand was now slightly shaking in anger.

Lee had become an exact copy of Gai, I mean exact. '_I wonder if he has a rivalry with Sasuke?'_

Nazashi decided to keep his distance and instead activated his advanced hearing.

"Hey Lee, how are you feeling about going into this place again?" asked Kiba.

"I'm a little nervous about the whole exam, but this place still gives me the creeps," answered Lee.

"Well I think we are going to kick ass! With all the training we had, we will certainly pass!" said Kiba in a cocky tone.

'_Same old showoff'_ thought Nazashi.

"How are you doing Hinata?" asked Kiba.

"Fine, I'm pretty confident" said Hinata in a calm voice, then added a bit softer "I have to do this… for Neji… and Naruto-kun" the final name was in a whisper that no one could hear.

Kiba seemed to understand and nodded sadly, "it's really a shame that that had to happen. He would have been a great ninja, especially since he managed to rid himself of his superiority complex."

"Yes, thanks to Naruto-kun…" the last part was whispered.

"You still think he'll come back?" asked Kiba.

"I have to believe… believe that we didn't lose two ninjas in that one mission," she gave a slight glare in Sasuke's direction.

'_Nice to see he's not well liked,'_ Nazashi smirked behind his mask.

"Yeah…" said Kiba sadly, "with Neji dying and Naruto going away…"

'_So Neji never did recover… interesting…'_

Naruto then shifted his attention to Tenten, Ino and Shikamaru.

"Hey how come Chouji isn't participating?" asked Tenten.

"He can't…" said Shikamaru sadly.

"Why not? I've worked with him several times and he's pretty strong," said Tenten.

"His health doesn't permit him to become a jounin," said Ino "his body just won't be able to handle that kind of stress."

"Oh yea that's right, he never fully recovered from five years ago… sorry I asked" apologized Tenten.

"No, it's alright…" said Shikamaru.

'_Seems that so much shit happened on that one mission,'_ Nazashi sighed '_at least he was able to become a chuunin. He's a good person and a good ninja, he deserves it.'_

Tenten suddenly smiled slyly, "anyway how are you two Naras doing?"

"Hey, we aren't married yet" retorted Ino pushing Tenten slightly.

Shikamaru just looked bored as usual and mumbled something about troublesome women.

'_So, Ino and Shikamaru… interesting… a lot has happened while I was out.'_

Akamaru's barking, made Nazashi re-focus his attention on Kiba. Nazashi noticed that Akamaru seemed to be looking at him.

"What is it boy? What do you smell?" asked Kiba.

Nazashi instantly hid himself in the crowd, his little espionage session over.

"What, you smell a fox? The Grass-nin is suspicious?" Kiba repeated what Akamaru said.

'_Shit, maybe changing my scent to a fox's wasn't such a good idea… I forgot foxes are taboo in Konoha. Gotta be careful not summon one here.'_

Just then the examiner for the test appeared in storm of leaves. He was dressed in regular jounin clothes with his forehead protector on his head, except it was tilted down to cover his left eye. (A/N: if you don't know who this is, re-read the whole manga)

'_Out of all the possibilities it had to HIM. Seems I'm gonna have no luck here,'_ Nazashi's right arm shook in anger at the sight of his former teacher. '_oh how I hope to go up against his prized student. I wonder how good Sasuke is with the sharingan and whether or not he has Mangekyou.' _

"Welcome everybody, to the jounin exam, my name is Hatake Kakashi."

"Now for the first part of the exam, you will each get a scroll with a special number on it" explained Kakashi.

'_Oh god, not again'_ thought a bored Nazashi.

"For the next five days you will be living in there," said Kakashi pointing behind him, "The Forest of Death."

Some of the chuunins cringed slightly at the name, but most didn't seem to care.

"Now try not to lose your scroll, since in your hands it is worth 3 points. In anyone else's hands it is worth 1 point. To pass this part you have to have at least 4 points by the end of 5 days."

'_So each person has to fight at least one other person. Easy enough.'_

"You will not be allowed to leave the forest for the next 5 days. ANBU will be posted right outside to make sure of that, anyone who leaves will instantly be disqualified. At the end of the 5-day time period you are to report to the tower in the middle of the forest. The tower's doors will open only AFTER the 5-day period is up," explained Kakashi "any questions?"

No one said anything and Kakashi told everyone that the exam would begin in one hour.

As Nazashi went to the stand to take his scroll, he overheard the conversation between Kakashi and Kurenai.

"I'm surprised you were on time" said Kurenai.

Kakashi put his hand on the back of his head, "Well… you see the Hokage threatened some horrible things if I were late…"

"Really? Like what?" asked Kurenai.

"She said she would personally come into my house and burn all the 'Come Come Paradise' books I owned" answered Kakashi.

Kurenai's eyebrow twitched a couple of times before she finally socked him in the face, then just turned around and walked away from him mumbling something about perverts.

'_And some things never change.'_

One Hour Later

Nazashi was jumping through the forest looking for Kiba, when he suddenly smelled three ninjas in front of him.

'_It's those three Leaf-nin that I don't know…'_

Nazashi instantly created a Kage Bushin and sent it to explore on the ground, while the real Nazashi followed in the trees.

The clone ran into the clearing to find that no one was there. Suddenly it noticed that several shuriken were flying at him. It dodged them rather easily, but was kicked in the stomach by someone and sent flying into a tree. The three Leaf-nin then jumped down from their hiding places and started moving towards the fallen clone.

'_What idiots…'_ thought Nazashi with a small sigh.

Nazashi waited until the three ninjas were right next to his clone and then finally jumped down performing hand seals in midair. He landed with absolute silence, whispered "Katon: Karyuu Endan," brought his fingers to his mouth and breathed out fire.

The ninjas barely had time to turn their heads around when the fire upon them. They screamed as the flames consumed them.

Once the jutsu was done, Nazashi looked the burned corpses of three ninjas. '_Idiots… gathering like that over a clone… psh… rookies…'_

Nazashi searched them and found the scrolls were unharmed.

'_Seems they are smarter this time and actually put a barrier jutsu on the scroll.'_

"Thank you," said Nazashi to the corpses as he pocketed the scrolls and ran off to find Kiba.

* * *

Kiba was walking through a small clearing with Akamaru at his side. Suddenly Akamaru turned his head and growled.

"What is it Akamaru?" asked Kiba looking around.

Akamaru barked.

"That fox smell again, huh?" Kiba contemplated, then yelled out "come out and fight like a man!"

Nazashi chuckled and walked out into the clearing, "hello Kiba."

"How the hell do you know my name!?" yelled Kiba.

"Don't recognize?" said Nazashi in a flat tone "that's too bad…"

Nazashi tilted his head to the side and asked, "how about now?"

'_What the hell?' _thought a bewildered Kiba '_his scent just changed. That's impossible… yet it's somehow familiar.'_

"Don't remember?" Nazashi continued in the flat tone "seems your memory isn't that good Kiba."

'_My memory… wait a second…' _chills ran down Kiba's spine "Could it be…?"

"Could it be… who?" continued Nazashi.

"…Naruto…?" asked Kiba uncertainly.

"Yes Kiba, long time no see."

Nazashi's tone was beginning to unnerve Kiba. Also the fact that Nazashi's eyes were completely cold made Kiba shiver a little bit, but he didn't pay attention to it.

"So you've finally returned?" asked Kiba in a happy tone "So good to have you back."

Nazashi couldn't help but smirk under his mask, '_he's relaxing, his defenses are falling… thank you Kiba you're making this a lot easier.'_

"For as long as I'm back…" countered Nazashi.

"What do you mean by that?" said Kiba with a hint of confusion in his voice.

"Let's just say I'm not planning to stay for long" answered Nazashi in a sly tone.

"You've joined another village haven't you?" asked Kiba motioning to the forehead protector on Nazashi's arm.

"Oh this… this is borrowed, in the interest of getting into Konoha."

"Borrowed?" asked Kiba slowly raising his defenses once again, "then why are you here?" then as an after thought added, "to get the jounin title right?"

'_Thank you Kiba you kept your defenses down just long enough for me to set everything up.'_

"It's not about the title, it's about the skill" replied Nazashi in a cold tone.

Nazashi's heightened senses told him that they were completely alone, so he didn't mind disclosing this information to Kiba.

"And I'm not here on behalf of any _village_, but I am here on behalf of an _organization…_" said Nazashi slyly.

_'Organization? What the hell could he mean by that? But by the looks of it he expects me to know…_' Kiba mused thoughtfully '_Hokage-same mentioned something about an organization some time ago… WAIT… if I remember correctly she said that that organization had been looking for Naruto… but no way…'_

Nazashi noted Kiba's eyes flash in confused realization and said, "yes Kiba it is the one you are thinking of."

The fear was clearly written on Kiba's face for several seconds before he finally composed himself and that fear turned to anger.

"You… you betrayed the Leaf!" growled Kiba and Akamaru.

Nazashi laughed slightly, "What's the matter Kiba, didn't expect me to be an enemy?"

"I'm gonna kill you!" yelled Kiba "you will die a traitor's death!"

'_There he goes again telling me his goal… and it looks like he's blinded by emotion, betrayal if I'm not mistaken. You're making this too easy Kiba.'_

"Beast Effect Ninpou" yelled Kiba "Beast Human Bushin."

Kiba grew claws and Akamaru transformed into Kiba.

"Piercing Fang" yelled Kiba, as he and Akamaru spun about their center wildly and headed straight for Nazashi.

'_This old technique? How do you expect to win against me using something I have already seen?'_ thought Nazashi in a bored tone.

Nazashi merely placed his hands in the chakra summoning position, "Raiton: Electric Wall no Jutsu" he whispered.

Suddenly the outlines of a chain-linked fence made up of electricity became visible right in front of Kiba. Kiba saw it, but could not bring himself or Akamaru to stop in time and forcefully collided with the wall. As the electric current made its way into Kiba's body he screamed as his muscles were being burned, Akamaru was forced to return to his original state and also whimpered and howled in pain.

Nazashi smirked, "thank you Kiba, you lowered your defenses just enough for me to be able to set this up. Otherwise I would have had to go through a lot more hand seals."

At that point the wall seemed to collapse, but did not fade, rather it became more like a net through which the electricity was still circulating.

"Oh dear me…" said Nazashi in a fake carrying tone "did I forget to mention that this is an Electric Wall, Chakra Net Combo."

Nazashi then stretched out his right hand, with the palm pointing upwards and wiggled his fingers in what seemed to be a random order. However every time he wiggled a finger Kiba and Akamaru would howl in pain.

"You see Kiba, through the use of chakra strings I am controlling the amount of chakra going into the Chakra Net. This way also allows me to contrast and expand the net as I see fit. The chakra is actually being converted to electric energy, hence the name 'Electric Chakra Net.'"

Nazashi suddenly shook off his hand and the Chakra Net disappeared. Nazashi quietly surveyed the damage he had done. Akamaru was completely knocked out, perhaps dead, and Kiba was struggling to get to his feet.

"Ah…" sighed Nazashi "enough is enough Kiba… time to end this," said Nazashi in a cold bored tone.

Suddenly Kiba felt pain in his back and chest. He looked down and his eyes widened in horror.

A hand, a clawed hand completely covered in blood was sticking out of his chest. Kiba's leg muscles no longer held him up, this hand was the only thing that was keeping him from falling. He suddenly noticed that the Nazashi in front of him disappeared in a cloud of smoke, '_that was a Kage Bushin?'_

Blood was now pouring out of Kiba's mouth like a river, he was finding it difficult to breathe. He coughed, but more blood just kept coming out. The world around him seemed to get hazy and spin a little, somewhere far off in the distance it seemed he heard a voice, "goodbye Kiba, this was a nice reunion we had…" The voice seemed to continue to say something else, but he couldn't make out what. Suddenly his head dropped down and the last thing he saw was blood red before the world faded to black.

"… this was a nice reunion we had, but you're a liability Kiba. I can't have you exposing me," said Nazashi in a completely cold tone. "I'm sorry it had to end this way, seems another person of out five-man team has died, but… such is life."

Nazashi took Kiba's scroll and stood for a second thinking, '_now who else could be a liability? Sasuke? Not really… Lee? Definitely not… Shikamaru? A potential, he'll pick up on clues easily enough… Shino? Probably not… Hinata? Also probably not… Tenten? Nope… Ino? Hmm… with her mind-jutsus and all, a potential.'_

Nazashi then ran off on a random course through the forest hoping to meet up with Shikamaru or Ino.

* * *

Ino was running through the forest when she suddenly spotted someone out of the corner of her eye. She slowed down and quietly crept up to see who it was. There she saw the Grass-nin seemingly sleeping with his back against a tree.

A smile slowly crept its way to her lips, '_perfect I'll just use my Mind-Body Switch jutsu and take his scroll.'_

Ino positioned her hands in that special seal and said, "Shintenshin no Jutsu." Instantly Ino's body when limp, while Nazashi's body began moving. Ino/Nazashi stood up, took his scroll out, walked over to Ino's body and put it in her pouch. Ino/Nazashi then went back to where he was before and Ino then released her jutsu.

Ino woke up in her own body, checked to make sure she had the scroll, and smiled a little bit, "good I got a scroll. Now I have to keep it for the next 5 days. I better find Shika-ku…"

However Ino was unable to finish her musing, because she felt her right arm being painfully twisted behind her back and felt cold steel graze her neck.

"Ahhh…" cried Ino and struggled against her captor.

"Calm down Ino-chan," said a cold voice behind her "wouldn't want Shika-kun to mourn you now would you?"

Ino froze, "h-how d-did you know… my name?"

"Nobody seems to recognize me after five years," continued the voice "I suppose that's a good thing though… considering the circumstances."

'_Five years…'_ Ino then saw the body that she had occupied vanish in a push of smoke, '_a Kage Bushin… no way…'_

"Naruto… is that you?" asked Ino in a shaky voice.

"Guilty as charged," answered Nazashi in a slightly amused voice, "however it's Nazashi now… or at least for now."

Ino hesitantly reached for the scroll she had just stolen only to find the pocket completely empty.

"No Ino-chan, that scroll was a fake. Did you really think someone would just fall asleep like that?"

"You have my scroll, now let me go" Ino whimpered.

"Ah yes, but you know who I am…" said Nazashi.

"I won't tell anyone… I promise" Ino whimpered in pain.

Nazashi immediately noticed this, "am I hurting you Ino-chan?"

"Could you just relax the grip you have on my arm?" asked Ino.

"Then you would have a higher chance to escape," replied Nazashi in a flat tone "and I don't see why I should have to chase you, if I already have a tight hold."

"Release me!" commanded Ino, "or.. I'll scream… and then more people will come and your identity will be found out."

Nazashi's cold laughter sent a chill down Ino's spine.

"You scream and I'll shove this kunai straight through your voice box," said Nazashi in a cold voice after abruptly ending his laughter. Ino trembled visibly.

"And another thing Ino-chan, there's nobody around us in a half mile radius" Nazashi stated simply.

"W-w-what do you want with m-me?" asked Ino.

"Ah… getting down to business, are we?" said Nazashi as more of a statement.

"Well if you must know," Nazashi then leaned in and whispered into Ino's ear, "I consider you a liability."

"L-l-liability…?" questioned Ino uncertainly.

"Yes, a liability. A liability that a Missing-nin like myself doesn't need."

"Are you going to kill me?" asked Ino in a surprisingly calm tone.

"I like you Ino-chan…" said Nazashi while running a finger through her hair, "you gave me a much better welcome than Kiba" said Nazashi instead of an answer.

"You've met Kiba…?"

"Yes, and you will meet him soon too" stated Nazashi in an amused cold tone "however… since you're so much nicer, you will go there more quickly and easily."

Nazashi's head shifted slightly and Ino could hear sharp, short inhaling noises.

"Hmm… it seems we are out of time…" stated Nazashi.

"So, sorry that we have to cut this _joyous _reunion short, I would have loved to stay and chat about old times, but I must leave now…" said Nazashi and brought the kunai closer to Ino's throat.

Nazashi then leaned in a whispered softly into Ino's ear, "Goodbye, Ino-chan… don't worry if circumstances permit I'll be sure to tell Shika-kun that you loved him very much."

Ino's body shook and several teardrops fell out of her eyes, "Shika-kun…"_ 'Why does it have to end like this?'_

And with that Nazashi dug his kunai into one side of her throat and pulled it all the way to the other side.

"Too bad it had to end this way Ino-chan… but… my mission comes first," said Nazashi while gently placing Ino's body on the ground.

_'Poor Shika-kun he was always nice to me and he I go and do something like this… I may as well…'_

Nazashi took out a piece of paper, wrote something quickly in Ino's blood and put it in her vest pocket.

He then stood up, did a few quick hand seals and disappeared.

* * *

Standing on top of the tallest tree in the vicinity Nazashi surveyed his position in the forest.

'_Hmm… just my horrible accursed luck… I'm on the far edge of the forest, directly opposite of the place I have to scout.'_

Nazashi looked once more at the scenery memorizing the approximate path that he would have to take. Since he wanted to avoid the tower, he would have to go on a slight detour.

'_No real problem… about 20km… so at non-suspicious speeds that would take me about two or three hours, one and a half if I don't encounter resistance.'_

Six Hours Later

Nazashi was at the edge of the forest and was preparing to sneak out of the testing area.

_'First it's five Leaf-nins, now it's five random ninjas. And why is everyone so hell bent on killing me? I would have just pounded the crap out some of them, but no they give me shit like "I'm not going to give up until I die" and many other variations. Then when I DO kill them, fear is the dominating emotion clearly written in their eyes.'_

Nazashi was just appalled at the absolute stupidity of some of the ninjas.

_'Why is everyone so stupid? I know I'm good at hiding my chakra and erasing my presence, but this is sad. How hard is it to understand that I always move in doubles, my clone is in front and I'm slightly lagging behind. God, the Kyuubi was right, "**stupid, arrogant and ignorant humans**" never thought I would actually believe him.'_

Nazashi now considered himself more like a half-demon or something, but absolute NOT a regular human.

He had just finished bandaging his right forearm, which was damaged by a wind attack and was now swapping his Grass forehead protector for his old Leaf forehead protector. '_Who would have thought that I actually would need this someday.'_

'_Now lets see… the guards are only posted at the fence, so I'll just use Shadow Step and teleport myself up to its maximum of 500 yards.'_

Nazashi started doing the hand seals, but suddenly stopped when he remembered a little detail, '_I can't go like this, I'll need to change my appearance.'_ Nazashi smirked and laughed slightly, '_Seems I only use this jutsu in the Leaf…'_

"Henge," Nazashi whispered and transformed into his girl form. '_Sexy no Jutsu… with clothes this time around… now Shadow Step and I can go scouting after dinner.'_

Five Days Later

Most of survivors had already made it into the building and the examiners were going to close the doors, when they felt a slight chakra signature heading toward the tower.

Nazashi was the last person to enter the tower. He would have forgotten about the exam, if he hadn't reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the scrolls. In his hurry he almost forgot to switch back his forehead protectors.

Once inside Nazashi walked up to a jounin sitting behind a desk that was covered in scrolls.

"Give me your name and your scroll" ordered the jounin.

"Nazashi of the Grass" said Nazashi and handed the jounin his scroll.

"Alright I have verified that this is indeed your scroll, so you now have 3 points; now give me any other scrolls you collected."

Nazashi then reached into another pocket and pulled out 10 other scrolls. The jounin's eyes widened at the amount of scrolls Nazashi had.

"Wow! Well you certainly set the record for the most scrolls…" stated the jounin in a somewhat dreamy voice.

The jounin noticed that five of the scrolls were that of Leaf-nins, "did you kill anyone to obtain these scrolls?"

Nazashi knew that the jounin was mostly asking this in relation to the Leaf-nins, "this is the real world… shit happens… now where do I go?" said Nazashi in a cold voice.

"Um… just go down the corridor and take a left. You will arrive at a small arena."

Upon walking in he was lined up along with the other participants. Nazashi looked around the room to survey who was still there. '_Seems I was the only person to take out any of the Leaf ninjas.'_

Nazashi came up with the following list for the remaining participants:

Grass – 1; Leaf – 6; Sand – 2; Stone – 1; Mist – 2; Rain – 2; Cloud – 1; Snow – 1

In the front of the room a jounin seemed to drop out of nowhere and land calmly in front of the crowd.

"Good day everyone that survived it through the first part of the exam, my name is Maito Gai and I will be your examiner for the next test."

'_Oh god, he hasn't changed a bit… he's still a freak…'_ thought Nazashi as he looked at Gai trying very hard to hide his disgust. '_Still if he's the examiner, then the test must be taijutsu related… not that I really care…'_

"The next part of the exam will commence in two days at training area 29 at 11:00am. This should give you plenty of time to relax," said Gai with his signature pose.

Nazashi noticed all the Leaf-nins sweat drop and shake their heads in disapproval, while Nazashi just sighed deeply.

"Oh yes and the next test will consist of one-on-one fights, taijutsu ONLY!" yelled Gai.

After that all the chuunins were dismissed. Nazashi made a few hand seals and vanished, not wanting to deal with any of his former comrades anymore.

'_Taijutsu only, huh? Better make sure I don't use any lost arts. It really depends on who I'm going to be fighting though.'_

* * *

IMPORTANT!!IMPORTANT!!IMPORTANT!!  
for exam 2, do you want me to describe every fight in detail?   
(i'm gonna do it for nazashi's no matter what)   
there will be 8 fights and i was planning on writting about the second exam in ONE chapter, but i could spill it... should i, should i not?   
plz tell me what you think

kiba's and ino's jutsu names are taken out of the manga

oh yes i'm finally utilizing some more-or-less original jutsus...

howz the battles? too bloody for you?? or not enough?? -demonic laughter is heard in the background-

what is naruto's mission??? suspenceful isn't it...? not telling yet =P  
but ur welcome to guess =)

and im just really blabering now......


	9. Taijutsu Exam

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately). I do own all of my own characters.

Thank you to all my reviewers!!! you ppl r so nice :-)

"blah" = speech

'_blah_' = thoughts

'**blah**' = Kyuubi's speech

Q: will sasuke get the clot kicked out of him because he's an ass?  
A: he'll have an interesting fate... in chapter 10

Q: does naruto have a way of protecting his jutsus styles, abilites and skills from Itachi and Sasuke or not?  
A: u'll find out soon.

Q: what happened to sakura did she choose not to enter this exam?  
A: i'll talk about that in this chapter. however that annoying bitch will rear her ugly head later. (ah i feel so much better saying that)

Q: will the leaf nin find out who killed there fellow nin and ask Nazashi about it?  
A: will also discuss in this chapter

Q: now will naruto take hinata with him or is this not the pairing you have in mind?  
A: i wont talk about what happens btwn them beforehand

Q: why is it that the exam is kinda like one of the tests for the Hunter Exam in where they will need six points to pass and they will need to stay for a few days? Did you get the idea from there?  
A: yea i did actually; (i was wondering who would pick up on that)

popular opinion was for me to write in detail about known characters (leaf). however kyandisu has a point i mean how much variation can u have in taijutsu only.

* * *

Chapter 9 – Taijutsu Exam

Two days later all the participants came to the 29th training area.

The training area was kind of like an arena except no stands and it was all underground, as a sort of pit. It was obvious that they were going to be fighting down in the pit.

At exactly 11:00am a cloud of smoke appeared next to the participants and out stepped the examiner.

"Good morning everyone!" yelled Gai.

'_First it's Kakashi, then his eternal rival,' _thought Nazashi exasperated '_who's next Ero-Sennin doing the third exam.'_

_'Damn it! If only the mission were going a bit better… I might have already been out of here already.'_

"We will now start the second exam. The fighters will be picked at random," continued Gai "the only weapons you can use are shuriken and kunai. However will be watching to make sure you don't chakra enhance any of your weapons. Also you may NOT use any blood limits, from now until this exam is over. That INCLUDES the times when you are not fighting."

'_That first rule was meant mostly for me,'_ thought Nazashi while surveying the people around him and not finding anyone else with a katana or any other type of mid-range weapon. '_However it is nice to know that my skills won't be copied by that bastard.'_

"All of the fights will occur down there," said Gai while pointing into the pit "the Pit of Doom…"

Everyone sweat-dropped.

"Well that's the un-official name at least…" said Gai.

'_Idiot…'_ sighed Nazashi.

Gai then made his way down into the pit and the participants seemed to sort themselves out, in terms of village again, on the ledge above. Nazashi found himself standing on the far side away from the Leaf-nin, closer to the Cloud and Snow ninjas.

"First match will be: Uchiha Sasuke vs. Umino of the Stone." (A/N: I don't want to introduce OC's that will probably never be used again, so I'll just BS a name and say which village they are from)

Sasuke and the Stone-nin jumped down to the floor and stood facing each other.

"Begin!" yelled Gai.

Sasuke instantly pulled out 3 shuriken and threw them at the Stone-nin, who threw his own to counter. The shuriken collided in mid-air and fell to the ground. The fighters at this time had already launched themselves at each other and were fighting a kunai battle.

Sasuke tried to punch and kick at the same time, only to have the Stone-nin easily counter.

Nazashi stifled a yawn, '_jeez, it's an elementary battle. I know they are testing each other, but this is pathetic. How can chuunin be testing each other on a genin level?'_

Losing a little interest in the fight, Nazashi threw his attention over to the remaining Leaf-nin.

"This is so troublesome… Even if bloodlimits can't be used the Hyuga have a definite advantage over everyone and I kind of feel sorry for anyone that has to face Lee," said Shikamaru annoyed.

"Yea that's true, and anyone who fights Lee is sure to lose," replied Tenten. "It also seems as if Sasuke is playing around with his opponent. You worried about any of the foreign ninjas?"

"Why do you ask me?" said Shikamaru in an annoyed tone.

"Because you're the genius and probably already know who to watch out for," replied Tenten in an amused voice.

'_True I have been observing everyone since before the test started… and that Grass-nin is somehow unsettling,'_ thought Shikamaru.

"I'd watch out for the Grass-nin, and also the Snow and Cloud," said Shikamaru.

"You seem to single out the Grass-nin," said Lee joining the conversation "any reason?"

"He seems more relaxed than anyone here, and didn't even care that he's not allowed to use his katana" replied Shikamaru.

"So? Most people that use a katana are good at taijutsu" said Lee.

"But katana wielders get used to having their katana and become somewhat dependant on it in close combat," mused Shikamaru.

"Well we'll see," said Lee. '_He really does seem like a worthy opponent,_' thought Lee of Nazashi.

'_That Grass-nin doesn't strike me as a taijutsu expert, yet I can't seem to sense any chakra around him and have to concentrate to be able to sense his presence. In combat the ability to erase your presence could be a deadly advantage,'_ thought Shikamaru and eyed Nazashi cautiously.

'_Damn that Shikamaru! Maybe I should have killed him instead of Ino. Although he doesn't seem to suspect me for ME, which is a plus, but… I need to find a way to throw him off… fighting him to the death might do the trick, that is if I get that lucky…'_ mused Nazashi '_Anyway, back to watching the battle…'_

As Sasuke parried yet another kunai strike, his lips curved into a slight smile as he twisted his foot and disappeared. His opponent was shocked. Sasuke then reappeared right behind the Stone-nin and punched him straight in the back of the head, sending the Stone-nin flying across the arena.

'_Fast, to the normal spectator, but I can easily see. His vest seems to be weighted down and also his shins… I wonder how much,'_ commented Nazashi thinking about his own weights. Namely the 500 pounds in his jacket and 250 on each shin. '_I wish I'd brought my cloak it has another 500, but it does have the Akatsuki pattern on it.'_

Sasuke waited until his opponent got up and then ran straight toward him. His opponent, thinking this was a reckless frontal attack, simply waited in a semi-defensive stance. Right before reaching his opponent Sasuke disappeared and throwing off the Stone-nin once again. Sasuke then re-appeared with a vertical kick straight into the Stone-nin's jaw, sending him flying through the air, and jumped after him.

'_This move, huh Sasuke?'_ thought Nazashi '_I wonder if you're actually going to use Lee's technique or if you're going to do that one combo you have?'_

Sasuke then put his hand on the Stone-nin's back and went to kick him. The kick of course was blocked, but that was the plan. Sasuke instantly twisted around and hit him in the jaw sending him down to the ground, then he brought the back of his foot to his solar plexus to re-enforce the collision with the ground.

'_Sasuke, Sasuke…'_ Nazashi slowly shook his head '_you developed that five years ago, don't you have something better?'_

He then took a moment to re-analyze the last part of the battle, '_foolish Sasuke, you're to used to that move… you do it by instinct, and ASSUME that your opponent will play along… but you simply can't do that… I mean look at you, even before your opponent fully blocked that kick you were already going for the punch. A more skilled opponent will read through that as easily as a hot knife goes through butter.'_

The Stone-nin was knocked out instantly, "Winner: Uchiha Sasuke!" yelled Gai.

There were a few cheers by some of the Leaf-nin, but the participants mostly stayed quiet.

'_That's what's been bugging me…'_ thought Nazashi as he felt a slight mental pressure lift, '_where the hell is Sakura? Why isn't she here cheering on her "boyfriend?"'_

There were a few silent congratulations as Sasuke re-joined his comrades. Kakashi appeared out of nowhere and congratulated him.

'_That damn bastard and his prize student… oh how I want to just…'_ Nazashi had to stop that train of thought of else he would end up releasing his killer intent or worse. After a few deep breaths he decided to just listen in on their conversation.

"Hey Sasuke, not much support for you now that your fan-girl isn't here, huh?" said Lee grinning.

"Yea…" replied Sasuke in a bored tone.

"They said they might come visit during lunch break," said Shikamaru.

"That would be nice, I haven't seen Chouji or Sakura in quite a while," said Hinata.

"Yea since they started teaching at the academy, they don't go on regular missions like the rest of us, so it's only natural," replied Shikamaru.

'_So Sakura is an academy teacher. Well she could easily be, with her brains and all. She's probably replacing Iruka since, I'm guessing, he's a jounin,'_ thought Nazashi.

"She didn't participate in the last jounin exam either?" said Tenten as more of a question.

"No, she seems content where she is now. Don't know how anyone could be content teaching a bunch of brats," said Shikamaru with a slight smirk.

Their little conversation and Nazashi's listening-in session was interrupted by Gai, "the second match will be: Rock Lee vs. Nazashi of the Grass."

"Yes, it's finally my turn" yelled Lee.

Everyone around him sweat-dropped, "it has only been one match," said Tenten.

"But I should have been first!" said Lee with fire in his eyes. The sweat-drops got bigger.

Nazashi chose to ignore Lee's antics and instead un-strapped the katana from his back and put it on the ground beside him. He then proceeded to jump down into the pit, soon after followed by Lee.

'_Of all the people to fight, I get the most difficult'_ thought Nazashi with a smirk, '_this should be interesting. However I'm not quite sure which style to use on him… hmm… I suppose I'll play around, let him hit me a few times and it should come to me…'_

'_This guy is way too calm…'_ thought Lee, '_and that cold look in his eyes reminds me of… Neji…'_

"Begin!" yelled Gai.

Lee instantly went into this signature stance with his right hand stretched out, palm facing away from the opponent. Nazashi didn't even move a muscle, instead just kept staring at Lee dead in the eyes.

'_Damn… his gaze is unnerving, such coldness… and he's not even bothering to get into any kind of stance…'_ Lee shivered at the thought that just hit him, '_he's so much like… Gaara…'_

'_You can begin Lee,'_ thought Nazashi with amusement.

Lee then instantly dashed forward and attempted to kick Nazashi. Nazashi simply ducked right before the kick would have connected. Lee spun back around, preparing a low kick that would hit his crouching opponent in the face, only to find that Nazashi was no-where to be found. Lee turned around to find Nazashi standing at the other end of the arena in that same stance with his arms crossed.

'_He's fast,'_ thought Lee.

Lee then rushed over and performed a series of fast consecutive kicks and punches that were aimed all over Nazashi's body. Nazashi managed to dodge all of them except the last one, which he had to block. Lee had performed a kick aimed at Nazashi's right side, Nazashi blocked with his right arm and disappeared, to re-appear right behind Lee and kick him in the back. Lee was a little surprised that Nazashi went on the offensive so suddenly and being unable to block, ended up flying into the wall in front of him.

The observing Leaf-nins were shocked to see that Lee was caught unawares with his back open, "Damn that guy is fast," commented Shikamaru, '_I was right, he is strong. To be able to dodge and block Lee like that.'_

'_That's impressive, but Lee isn't using his full potential yet,'_ thought Kakashi, '_I might need my sharingan to keep up with the battle, later on.'_

'_That was just a lucky opening since he was distracted by attacking and he is most likely not going all out yet…'_ mused Nazashi, his mind instinctively re-analyzing the last segment of the battle. '_I need a way to slow him down… injury is probably the best option. He's much too fast for launching shuriken… kunai, I haven't used them in a long time so I don't the necessary speed to be effective. That narrows it down to just my hands… perhaps I could… yeah… that will work rather well.'_

Nazashi jumped back a little bit and waited for Lee to get back up. Lee bounced up and seemed unaffected by the attack, excluding the bruises on his face. He proceeded to take off his chuunin vest and threw it on the ground with a loud thud.

'_Just as I suspected it's weighted, but he's carrying less in that vest than I have in my jacket.'_

Lee rushed at Nazashi again this time he was significantly faster and even though Nazashi did a great job blocking and dodging he was finally caught off guard as Lee punched him in the middle of the chest. Nazashi was thrown back by the impact, did a flip in mid-air and landed on his feet several yards away.

Lee, meanwhile, opened and closed his fist several times, "so your jacket is weighted too?" asked Lee and Nazashi shrugged a little.

'_That's got to be quite a bit of weight if Lee had to check his hand like that,'_ thought Sasuke.

Lee ran at full speed toward Nazashi, '_he's obviously going to do the vertical kick. Now, do I dodge or show off the counter I developed?'_ Nazashi smirked.

Lee disappeared right before reaching Nazashi, however Nazashi just stood there unmoving and waited with his hands at his sides.

'_He's not the least bit surprised!'_ thought Shikamaru worried.

'_It's as if he's waiting for it…'_ thought Kakashi.

Lee then re-appeared in front of Nazashi with a vertical kick straight to his jaw and sent Nazashi flying through the air. Nazashi waited patiently for Lee to begin the Leaf Shadow Dance. Once he felt Lee's presence below him, Nazashi began preparing for his own move.

Lee quickly undid the bandages surrounding his arms and was about to bind Nazashi with them, when he suddenly felt a slight tug at the bandage on his left hand. The next thing he knew Nazashi had turned around and was staring him dead in the eyes.

As soon as Lee had released his bandages, Nazashi instantly grabbed the bandage on his left side with his right hand. Nazashi then pulled the bandage sharply and while twisting his body at the same time.

It had worked perfectly, Lee was thrown off by what Nazashi had done and had given Nazashi the opportunity of first strike.

Nazashi punched Lee in the solar plexus, causing the distance between their bodies to grow. Within two seconds after the punch, Nazashi bent his legs and brought his knees up to his chin, all the while causing himself to do a quarter of a back flip. He then kicked Lee in the face with both his feet, sending Lee down to the ground at a rather fast speed.

Everyone in the crowd, especially the Leaf-nin, was absolutely shocked that Lee's technique had failed. The Leaf chuunin didn't even have time to gasp before Lee slammed into the ground at full force. A large cloud of dust rose from where Lee had crashed.

Lee then proceeded to tumble for several seconds and finally his body came to stop several dozen yards away from what was now the crater that his impact had created. Nazashi meanwhile landed softly in a crouching position, in the middle of the arena and stood up at a leisurely pace.

The Leaf-nin gasped loudly and stared in absolute shock at Nazashi. They could not believe that Nazashi had not only successfully countered it, but had also managed to give Lee about the same amount of damage that the Leaf Shadow Dance should have done to Nazashi.

Nazashi noticed that all eyes were on him and decided to speak for the first time during the match, "Leaf Shadow Dance counter," he said in a cold tone.

'_A counter…? No way!'_ thought Kakashi wide-eyed, '_Though it is possible, but to be able to think of one instantly… that's too unrealistic.'_

'_How the hell? That counter was thought up and executed within five seconds… is he a genius?'_ Sasuke was absolutely bewildered. '_I couldn't even see a counter with my sharingan that fast, but he… who is he?'_

Shikamaru suddenly broke the silence in a shaky voice, "he knew Lee was going to do that…" everyone instantly looked at him, "I knew something was wrong when he didn't even budge as soon as Lee rushed him. That counter was not thought up just now… No… He already knew it."

"That's impossible!" said Tenten "Then he would have had to have seen it before."

"Yes, that is the only logical explanation," replied Shikamaru.

'_Oh good, so he's not a super-genius. But still how did he know about the technique?'_ thought Sasuke relieved and worried at the same time.

"Still to be able to come up with a counter for this kind of technique… truly amazing," said Kakashi '_I'm not sure… but he may have done something else too…'_

Lee slowly got back up to his knees, and coughed out a little bit of blood before jumping up to his feet once again… but something was wrong. Lee tried lifting his arms, but to no avail. He could easily move his shoulders and even raise his elbows, but couldn't really move anything below his elbows. His wrist, hand and fingers shook as he desperately tried to do something with them, but his muscles seemed to not respond.

'_What the hell is going on here?'_ thought Lee confused and a little scared that he was now at a disadvantage because of his arms. At this point Lee didn't even care about the blood at the edge of his mouth, nose and forehead.

"Don't worry too much about it," said Nazashi in a cold and slightly amused tone, "those pressure points will release naturally… after the match."

All the chuunin were shocked, none of them had even managed to see when he pressed the pressure points.

'_There's NO WAY he could have pressed anything, without me seeing it. Plus he must have been pretty distracted trying to perform that counter combo perfectly,'_ Sasuke stared at Lee's condition, '_Still I can't deny the fact that Lee's lower arms are now useless. This guy must be some sort of pressure point specialist.'_

Kakashi suddenly spoke up startling the chuunin, "he pressed them right before punching Lee in the stomach."

'_I was right, that guy is definitely a force to be reckoned with,'_ thought Shikamaru his eyes wide at the entire scene.

"He lured in Lee…" Shikamaru started, "that time when Lee punched him in the chest, he was thrown back, but landed very gracefully." Shikamaru started explaining, "He gave Lee the perfect distance for the Shadow Dance and intentionally let the vertical kick go through. All the while knowing that Lee wouldn't be able to do any significant damage, but instead would be in a position to TAKE significant damage."

Nazashi couldn't wait any longer, knowing that those pressure points are not the kind to hold for very long; Lee was already figuring out that his lower arms were becoming more and more responsive. He rushed at Lee using his normal attack speed, which was about the same as Lee's speed without his vest.

Nazashi jumped up and kicked Lee in the right side of his head. Lee would have flown half way across the room had Nazashi not grabbed him by his right arm and pulled him back, instantly pressing a point on Lee's right shoulder. Nazashi then rotated around, kneed Lee in the stomach with his left leg and at the same time crouched down and hit a pressure point on Lee's thigh. At this time Lee could only bend over, cough out more blood and try to stand up.

Nazashi then jumped up, preparing a mid-air kick that then connected with the left side of Lee's chest and sent him into the wall behind him. (A/N: think Trinity in the Matrix)

The impact caused a Lee to make a rather large indentation in the wall and fall down into a crawling position. He coughed out more blood, but did not give up and struggled to stand up.

Once back up on his feet he rejoiced when he found that he could once again move his left hand, it was extremely sore, but that was better than nothing. However his happiness instantly disappeared when he found that he had lost all control over his right arm. It wouldn't even twitch slightly, but just hung useless. He also found that if he put more than 30 percent of his weight on to his left leg, that it wouldn't hold him.

'_Damn it! What the hell is he doing? He's somehow numbing my muscles… Oh NO!'_ thought Lee as his eyes slightly widened in horror. '_He must be using some form of the Kyusho style… pressure point techniques… I have no idea how to fight this style.' _

_'Now that his arm is going to be out for several hours, I could play around with him, hitting more pressure points and make this a very painful defeat,'_ mused Naruto, '_but I have nothing personal against Lee, I actually somewhat respect him, so I'll just end it.'_

Nazashi then suddenly disappeared and re-appeared on Lee's right side, he made it look like he only grabbed Lee by the right shoulder, but in reality he was actually pressing a hard to reach pressure point on Lee's cerebellum. Nazashi then punched Lee in the lower back, however Nazashi's hand wasn't in a traditional fist formation instead his index finger was sticking out slightly. This enabled Nazashi to hit a pressure point with a lot more force than one or two fingers could provide.

Lee fell face forward onto the floor of the arena and didn't get back up.

Everyone including Gai was horrified. As far as the Leaf-nin were concerned some unknown ninja from the Hidden Grass was able to beat their taijutsu specialist in a pure taijutsu battle. Everyone just sort of gaped at him for several minutes.

Nazashi looked at Gai, calmly and patiently waiting to be announced the winner. Gai was just looking at Lee as if waiting for him to get up any second now. Nazashi was getting annoyed, "Lee is not going to get up any time TODAY, so this match is OVER!" said Nazashi forcefully enough to gain Gai's attention, but not enough to appear rude.

'_Not get up today… no way… LEEEE!!!'_ cried Gai in his mind, then slowly regained his composure. "Winner: Nazashi of the Grass…" said Gai somewhat uncertainly. There was no clapping mostly because everyone was still gaping.

'_Lee you were a strong opponent,'_ thought Nazashi '_it was an honor to have had the opportunity to fight you.'_

Nazashi nodded slightly and jumped back up to the top, to where his katana was. While the medics were removing Lee's body and Nazashi was re-strapping his katana, the Leaf-nins were able to come out of their daze and talk amongst themselves.

"H-h-how did t-that just happen?" asked Sasuke shocked.

"What was that style he was using?" asked Hinata confused.

"H-h-how… j-j-just how?" asked Tenten bewildered.

Shino and Shikamaru just stayed quiet, but were asking those same questions in their mind.

"Pressure point techniques…" replied Kakashi slowly, "I don't really know any… we'll ask Gai after the test…"

"I've read about pressure point techniques and styles," said Shikamaru uncertainly, "but I couldn't recognize any stances he did… however some attacks did look familiar…"

"Familiar?" asked Tenten.

"Yes, the one where Nazashi kneed Lee and then bent down a little lower to hit a pressure point in the thigh," replied Lee "the problem is those are individual techniques, but that guy uses them in combination with something else…"

"He's combining styles…" said Kakashi.

"Huh? What do you combining style? Aren't you supposed to use only one at a time?" asked Sasuke somewhat confused.

"That's not what I meant, high level taijutsu masters take all the styles they know and combine into one. Their own style…" explained Kakashi.

"Wait you said 'high level' so how strong do you think that Nazashi is?" asked Shikamaru.

"Jounin level probably," replied Kakashi "it's difficult to tell, I haven't seen his ninjutsu and genjutsu." '_Though I don't really think I need to…'_

Gai had finally regained his composure enough to get the fights underway again, "Third fight: Sato of the Sand vs. Shalimo of the Rain."

Anyone could clearly see that Sato was faster and stronger than Shalimo. Sato rushed at the Rain-nin and fiercely attacked him from all directions. At first Shalimo was able to parry and block, but soon took several kicks and punches to the stomach and was thrown back. The Sand-nin immediately rushed at Shalimo covering him in punches and kicks. Just was Sato was going to deal the final blow, the Rain-nin panicked and used Kawarimi. The match was instantly stopped and the Rain-nin disqualified.

"Winner: Sato of the Sand!" proclaimed Gai.

'_The Sand-nin was going to win anyway,' _thought Nazashi.

'_That guy's speed was pretty good, I liked his taijutsu style a sort of a no mercy attack and don't give your opponents any time to recover'_ thought Sasuke passively.

"The fourth match: Aburame Shino vs. Kurono of the Snow" announced Gai.

Shino and Kurono both jumped down to the arena floor and glared at each, Shino through his sunglasses and Kurono through her bright green eyes.

"Begin!" said Gai.

Instantly Shino took out 3 shuriken and threw them at Kurono, while himself jumping off to the right. Kurono took out her kunai and easily deflected 2 of the shuriken and dodged the other one and instantly did a spin kick backwards. Shino barely had time to duck to avoid her kick.

He took out his own kunai and tried to cut her other leg. Kurono noticed this and jumped back throwing 2 shuriken at Shino. He deflected one, but the other hit him in the left shoulder.

Shino cried out in pain and looked up at his opponent only to find an empty arena. '_Where the hell did she go?'_ thought Shino looking around. Just as Shino turned his head to look behind him, a foot connected with his jaw and sent him flying, head first, into the wall on the opposite end of the arena. Shino collapsed and lost consciousness.

"Winner: Kurono of the Snow!" said Gai.

'_Smart girl!'_ mused Nazashi approvingly.

"Wait, that's not fair!" exclaimed Tenten, "Gai-sensei said that you couldn't add chakra to your attacks."

"No, he said that you can't chakra enhance your weapons," replied Shikamaru "he didn't say anything about your body."

"A ninja must read underneath the underneath" said Kakashi proudly.

"The fifth match: Sumeto of the Mist vs. Kili of the Rain" yelled Gai.

The fighters were about equal in strength, but Sumeto was definitely faster. After several punch/kick and kunai/shuriken attacks the Rain-nin started getting visibly worn out and it was then that the Mist-nin caught Kili from behind and held a kunai to his throat until the Rain-nin surrendered.

"Winner: Sumeto of the Mist!" said Gai.

'_The Mist specialize in stealth killing'_ mused Nazashi, '_plus, the Rain-nin seemed to be a long-range type anyway.'_

"The sixth match: Nara Shikamaru vs. Haruko of the Mist" yelled Gai.

"Good luck Shikamaru!" said Tenten.

'_This is so troublesome…'_ thought Shikamaru, but jumped down anyway.

Shikamaru stood there facing his opponent with his hands in his pockets looking like he didn't give a damn… which he probably didn't. His opponent on the other hand was standing in a battle position with stern expression on her face.

"Begin!" yelled Gai.

Immediately Haruko launched 3 shuriken at Shikamaru, which he dodged easily. She then appeared right behind him and attempted to kick him in the back, but Shikamaru dodged that too.

'_Is he too lazy to attack?'_ wondered Nazashi.

The Mist-nin did not relent in her attacks and came at him once again punching and kicking at high speeds. Shikamaru managed to block and dodge most of her attacks, but was hit by several punches in the chest and a kick to his right side sent him tumbling on the ground.

The mist-nin waited until Shikamaru go back up and then threw 2 shuriken at him. This time Shikamaru parried the shuriken with his kunai. Then suddenly jumped forward, while throwing his kunai behind him.

Shikamaru smirked when he heard the Mist-nin cry out in pain; Shikamaru's kunai had hit her in the right shoulder. Shikamaru then jumped back and did a spin kick which hit the Mist-nin on the left side of her head and knocked her down to the ground. He bent down grabbed his kunai and twisted it while pulling it out, making the Mist-nin scream out in pain.

"Wow, I didn't know Shikamaru had it in him," commented Tenten.

"Yeah…" agreed Hinata.

Just then an ANBU appeared next to the group and walked over to Kakashi.

"Kakashi-san may I have a word?" asked the ANBU.

"Of course…" said Kakashi as he excused himself walked out of earshot of the participants.

"What is it?" asked Kakashi.

"We found the missing Leaf chuunin…" answered the ANBU somewhat hesitantly.

Kakashi looked at him significantly, expecting the worst, and when the ANBU shook his head, he got it.

"All of them?" asked Kakashi.

"Yes."

"How?" asked Kakashi somewhat angrily.

"Three by fire, one had her throat slit and the other…."

"The other…?" asked Kakashi suspiciously, "Who? And what exactly happened?"

"Kiba … we found him… with a hole in his chest," answered the ANBU uncertainly, "and his dog seemed to have been electrocuted."

"A Cloud-nin?" asked Kakashi.

"Perhaps… does look like a Raiton jutsu…"

"But?" inquired Kakashi.

"Well, as you must know, there was only one person who brought in Leaf scrolls" Kakashi nodded, "and that person was not of the Cloud."

"Yes, but he might have taken the scroll from the Cloud-nin afterwards" said Kakashi trying to be objective.

"That is possible… considering the three groups were all killed using different styles."

"Wait, three groups?" said Kakashi.

"Yes, when I said three people killed by fire, I meant they were all killed in a group."

"Using one fire jutsu?" Kakashi was surprised.

"From the looks of it, yes."

"Hmm… well thank you for the information…" said Kakashi.

"Oh there is one other thing," said the ANBU while reaching into his pocket and pulling out a note. He handed it to Kakashi and said, "this was clipped to Ino's jacket."

On the cover it read: "To Shikamaru."

"I would appreciate if you gave it to him," said the ANBU.

"Of course, by all means" replied Kakashi.

The ANBU turned to leave then stopped and said, "the bodies are being delivered to the morgue and the funeral will probably be in two days…" with that he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Kakashi pocketed the note and walked back to the testing area, refusing to answer any questions about the ANBU.

Meanwhile

Shikamaru held the bloody kunai in his hand for a second without moving, then jumped away letting his opponent get up. The Mist-nin got up, but found that because of her shoulder wound she could barely control her right arm. '_Damn it! I don't stand a chance if I can't use my arm.'_

She pulled out her own kunai and rushed Shikamaru. She viciously attacked him kicking, cutting and stabbing at him, but was greatly hindered by the fact that she couldn't use her right arm. Shikamaru read through this and managed to lead the fighting in such a way that he soon found himself at her right side. Knowing that she couldn't do anything, Shikamaru jumped behind her and held his kunai to her throat telling her to surrender or else. The Mist-nin knowing that resistance would be futile, gave in and surrendered.

"Winner: Nara Shikamaru!" yelled Gai.

"YAY!!! Bravo Shikamaru! You did it!" yelled Tenten.

Shikamaru quite calmly took the stairs back up to the ground level where his friends waited. After the congratulations were through, Kakashi approached Shikamaru and beckoned him to follow him a little ways away from the arena. Shikamaru followed silently.

Kakashi took out the note from his pocket and gave it to Shikamaru, "I'm sorry Shikamaru," said Kakashi as he placed a hand on the chuunin's shoulder.

Shikamaru looked down at the note in his hands and noticed that the words were written in blood; his heart skipped a beat. With shaking hands he opened the note, it read:

_Shika-kun,_

_Ino-chan loved you very much. Her last words were about you. But this was a calculated risk._

_I'm sorry…_

Shikamaru couldn't take anymore of this and broke down, falling to his knees with tears rolling down his cheeks. "Why?" was the only coherent thing that Kakashi could make out of Shikamaru's muttering. "I'm sorry… I don't know…" said Kakashi sadly.

By now, Tenten had noticed that something was wrong and ran over to her friend. "What happened?" she asked. Shikamaru couldn't answer properly just sort of motioned to the note, which had already fallen out of his hand. Tenten picked it up and read it quickly, then instantly hugged Shikamaru and tried to comfort him.

Kakashi was able to hold his emotionless mask and walked away slightly, making a note to call Tenten when it was her turn to battle. When he came back to the group, he was instantly bombarded with questions about Shikamaru. He told Sasuke that he could go and talk to Shikamaru, but did not allow Hinata to go reasoning that she hasn't fought yet. Hinata reluctantly agreed, but vowed to talk to Shikamaru after her match.

"The seventh match: Manoto of the Sand vs. Hikoma of the Cloud." Said Gai.

Hikoma used an interesting tactic; in the very beginning she pulled out 3 shuriken, but never threw them all of them, just two. At the same time she charged at his opponent, still holding the one shuriken. The Sand-nin thought that Hikoma had thrown all of her shuriken, so relaxed a little bit after parrying the first two. Hikoma meanwhile had thrown the last one, when she was on the Sand-nin's side and so when the Cloud-nin attacked the Sand-nin from behind the shuriken freely hit Manoto in the middle of the chest.

Not willing to lose the opportunity, Hikoma kicked the Sand-nin in the back then grabbed his shoulders and kneed him in the stomach, causing a mass of blood to pour out of the Sand-nin's mouth. Hikoma then jumped up a little bit pulled her right knee up to her chest and proceeded to kick the Sand-nin with the sole of her foot right where the shuriken was still lodged. The result was a sickening crunch as the shuriken made its way further into the body and the lifeless body of the San-nin fell onto the floor of the arena.

Most of the other participants were shocked that Hikoma had actually killed her opponent. Nazashi on the other hand was pleasantly surprised that at least some villages had ninjas that weren't afraid to kill.

"Winner: Hikoma of the Cloud!" said Gai.

"The eighth and final match: Tenten vs. Hyuga Hinata." announced Gai.

Kakashi walked over to Tenten and told her it was her turn. She nodded slightly and went down into the arena where Hinata waited.

As the two fighters stood there facing each other, anyone could clearly see that Tenten was not in a fighting mood.

'_Shit! I shouldn't have told him until after this exam,'_ regretted Kakashi.

'_What the hell has her shaken up that bad?'_ wondered Hinata.

"Begin!" yelled Gai.

Hinata immediately rushed straight at Tenten, Tenten however seemed to recover a little and threw 3 shuriken at Hinata. Hinata dodged them and continued her charge. Tenten leaped sideways hoping to avoid Hinata's strikes, knowing that she stood no chance in hand-to-hand combat and would have to rely on her weapons.

Hinata noticed that her opponent was simply dodging and trying to lengthen the distance between them, so she increased her speed and managed to catch up. She then instantly hit Tenten in her shoulders, thighs and arms; her hands becoming a blur to the observers.

'_Wow! This isn't the Hinata I remember from five years ago,'_ thought Nazashi, '_she's good. As fast, if not faster than Neji.'_ Nazashi was impressed.

Hinata decided to end it and for her final move, hit Tenten straight in the jaw sending her flying half way across the arena. Tenten tumbled on the ground for several seconds and then lost consciousness.

"Winner: Hyuga Hinata!" yelled Gai.

'_Good job, Hinata! A lot better than your fight with Neji'_ thought Nazashi. '_Damn, really, so much has changed around here.'_

"Congratulations to those of you who have passed this test!" said Gai.

"The next part of the exam will take place a week from now," said a voice behind the participants.

As Nazashi turned around he saw the familiar face of a jounin, but could not remember his name.

"My name is Asuma, I will be the examiner for the third test."

'_Oh yeah, him. He was Shikamaru's teacher… that's why I couldn't remember him, he's not smoking…'_ thought Nazashi slightly amused.

"The third test will also be one-on-one fights, but without rules. The fighters have already been randomly selected," said Asuma. "They go as follows:"

Nara Shikamaru vs. Sumeto of the Mist

Hyuga Hinata vs. Hikoma of the Cloud

Kurono of the Snow vs. Manoto of the Sand

Nazashi of the Grass vs. Uchiha Sasuke

Nazashi grinned contently, '_good… I get to see how much he has advanced… among other things.'_

Sasuke was also pleased with the arrangement, '_a strong opponent to test my strength.'_

"As I said you have a week to prepare. The next test will take place in the stadium, it will not be a public event, however some shinobi may come to watch. The Hokage will definitely be there and maybe another Kage."

Asuma talked and/or babbled about the next test for about 15 minutes, most of which Nazashi tuned out and simply disappeared when they were dismissed.

Several Days Later

Nazashi was sitting in his hotel room, contemplating the recent events, when suddenly a familiar voice kicked him out of his thoughts.

"Shouldn't you be starting the mission by now?" it says. "I know how much you're enjoying these reunions, but you do have a purpose here, Nazashi."

"Jeez! Can't you like say hello?" Nazashi said in an irritated voice. "Did you at least sound-proof the room?"

"Of course, I'm surprised you didn't notice… by the way that was supposed to be my 'hello' to you," said Itachi. "So, about the mission you REALLY should start it."

"Have you seen that place!?" cried Nazashi angrily, "It's harder to get into than the Akatsuki headquarters! I can't even get within 50 yards without being spotted."

"God, how I wish I could just obliterate it to hell!" angrily replied Nazashi.

"Well since you can't do that, then perhaps you need another way in," coolly said Itachi.

"Yea... I just don't know what yet," said Nazashi calming down, "I'm sure there will be an opportunity in the future."

"What makes you say that?" inquired Itachi.

"Instinct. Something is telling me to stay in the exam... a sort of wait for it," replied Nazashi.

"Telling you? Or you just want to kill a few more Leaf-nin?" chuckled Itachi. "My habits seem to be rubbing off on you."

"Hey! I only took care of a few liabilities. You would have done the same, I know you." Nazashi countered and Itachi just shrugged.

"Uh-huh… and what about this kid you beat up using the Kyusho Dimmak?" asked Itachi.

"Lee is just going to be out for a couple of days," Nazashi half yelled, "I didn't hit any of his pressure points that hard."

Then remembering what Itachi said before the start of the mission, "Weren't you supposed to be outside the village?" Nazashi asked.

"Yea, and you were supposed to start your mission." Itachi said sarcastically.

Nazashi's head suddenly perked up, "that reminds me, I'm going to be facing your 'foolish little brother' in a few days... want me to bring you a souvenir?" Nazashi's eyes squinted in amusement.

Itachi just smacked him upside the head, "idiot, you know the history..."

"Yea, yea I know" said Nazashi while rubbing his head. "Alright I won't kill him, but I'll definitely have fun with him," Nazashi said in a sadistic tone.

"You want to use IT, don't you?" Itachi said coldly.

"What's wrong with having him have a little brush up with death?" asked Nazashi innocently.

Itachi looked at him with a stare that said "you do anything funny and I'm gonna put you through so much torture you will be begging that I send you to hell."

"Hahaha... don't worry so much, would I really kill the brother of my onii-chan?" said Nazashi with a small nervous laugh.

Itachi just gave him an 'I'll be watching look' and disappeared. Nazashi sighed as he felt the sound-barrier decompose.

"Why is life always more of a bitch in this village, compared to anywhere else?" Nazashi asked no one in particular.

'_Yes, I DEFINETELY want to use IT on Sasuke…'_ chuckled Nazashi demonically.

* * *

katon means something like "fire style", so does anyone know what "poison style" is?

i had to disqualify the rain-nin, for variety and b/c he had the stupidest name... =)

u know i only realized AFTER i wrote it, but i made shikamaru fight a girl again...

i'll try to have the next chapter out by the 5th, cause im leaving on vacation until the 17th, but no promises.


	10. Third Test

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately). I do own all of my own characters.

Thank you to all my reviewers!!! you ppl r so nice :-)

"blah" = speech  
'_blah'_ = thoughts

**A/N:** new version of chapter 10! b/c i didnt like my rough draft. It's mostly the same... fixed several typos, added more commentary for some battles; more explanation for Kyusho Dimmak.

ch 11 is partly written (on paper), so plz wait a little bit more. (plus i have 34 stories to catch up on...)

Seiiryu the destroyer - dark and distrubing... not yet...

Linus Van Pelt - ur right about the Sand-nins, my mistake. fixed in this version.

Heero2001 - dont worry im not going to abandon the story

OpposingForce - i forget things all the time (like the name of my own OC... bows head in shame).

sephynarutocloud - yes i do like "Downfall of the Light"

so many questions about hinata; chapter 11 answers them all.

* * *

Chapter 10 – Third Exam

Six days have now passed since the end of the second exam. Nazashi was contemplating deep in the forest, to prepare for the upcoming battle tomorrow.

'_Damn it, I need to get the mission over with' _thought Nazashi half angrily. '_The problem is that it has to be done in one hit… Get in, do the mission and get out of there and the village. But I really don't need to attract the extra attention of half the village, so it needs to be done stealthily, but I can't even approach the place, so I'm back to the beginning of forceful entry and way too much attention.'_

Nazashi has just been wracking his head for several days like this since Itachi's brief appearance. '_I'm getting anxious… something's going to happen tomorrow… something favorable,'_ mused Nazashi. '_Maybe I should a bit more sleep… it is three in the morning…'_ and with that Nazashi headed back to his hotel room.

The next day Nazashi showed up to the stadium with as little time to spare as he could without being subject for disqualification. The rest of the ninjas were already there, standing in the middle patiently waiting to start the matches.

As Nazashi got closer he distinctly heard Shikamaru complaining, "Man it's so troublesome that my match is first…" Nazashi had to try very hard not to burst out laughing right there.

He then noticed Sasuke eyeing him suspiciously, '_Hey you're not late this time around!'_ Nazashi was inwardly amused. _'And is that a small hint of fear that I see in your eyes, Sasuke?'_ Nazashi kept his cold demeanor while smiling inwardly.

Nazashi looked up to see exactly who would be watching these matches. He, of course, saw the Godaime Hokage (old hag as Nazashi referred to her inwardly), Kakashi '_he's probably here for his prize student'_ scowled Nazashi, Gai, Kurenai, Sakura '_here for her precious Sasuke-kun,'_ Shino, Tenten, and several other jounin and chuunin.

'_Where the hell is Lee?'_ wondered Nazashi, but decided to just shrug it off.

"We will now begin the third test of this Jounin Exam" exclaimed Asuma. "The first match is: Nara Shikamaru vs. Sumeto of the Mist. The rest of the fighters please wait up in the waiting room and not the stands."

Shikamaru and Sumeto walked to the opposite ends of the stadium, while the rest of the fighters slowly made their way to the waiting booth.

"Do you think Shikamaru will win?" asked Sakura.

"I know what you're thinking, but he knows when he needs to be serious even if he's lazy the rest of the time" replied Kakashi. "Thought I'm still worried about him, Mist-nin can be very tricky."

Once everyone, minus the current fighters, was up in the waiting room, Asuma yelled "BEGIN!"

The Mist-nin instantly performed a few seals and a thick fog spread out over the entire arena. Unlike Shikamaru, the Mist-nin knew exactly where his opponent was. The Mist-nin pulled out several shuriken and threw them at Shikamaru.

Shikamaru heard the shuriken flying through the air and managed to dodge them, although realizing that he was at a disadvantage. '_Shit if he stays long range like this I have no chance to win.'_

The Mist-nin, took out a few more shuriken and while running around his opponent in a circle threw the shuriken at him. Shikamaru of course dodged the first few and instantly figured out what the Mist-nin was doing, hence could easily parry the other shuriken with his kunai.

'_So, he's started to move,'_ thought Shikamaru, '_he'll probably be moving into close range combat soon… I must prepare.'_ Shikamaru extended his shadow all around him.

'_Damn it not enough water around here to do any good water jutsus. I'll have to settle this in close combat,'_ deduced Sumeto. Again he started running in a circle around his opponent throwing shuriken at him, except this time once he got right behind Shikamaru he lunged straight at him with a kunai.

'_He's doing the same trick with the shuriken again, unless he's really stupid he must realize that it doesn't work. So logically he's using this as a distraction to run in a semi-circle and get behind me.'_ Shikamaru then moved his shadow so that it covered the ground in back of him a lot more than in front.

The Mist-nin, absolutely unaware of the Nara family ability, kept running straight for his opponent with absolute stealth. Just as the Leaf-nin came into view and Sumeto was going to commence his plan, he realized that even though he was supposed to be running that Shikamaru wasn't getting any closer. '_What the hell? I was just running a second ago, could it be genjutsu?' _wondered the Mist-nin.

Just as Sumeto was about to move his arms into the proper position to dispel the genjutsu, he found that his arms seemed to be bound by something.

"Gotcha" said Shikamaru in a flat tone, as he turned sideways so that he could see the Mist-nin and the Mist-nin could see him. Before Sumeto could even say anything Shikamaru continued, "Shadow Neck Bind no Jutsu." Sumeto saw the shadowy hand slowly crawl all the way up his body to his neck. The last thing the Mist-nin saw was the coldness of Shikamaru's eyes as his neck snapped.

The mist cleared to show Shikamaru standing over the lifeless body of the Mist-nin, in that same non-caring pose that he usually does.

"Winner: Nara Shikamaru!" yelled Asuma, proud of his student.

'_He killed him,'_ thought Nazashi, '_didn't think Shikamaru had it in him… or maybe something motivated him…'_ the image of Ino's dead body flashed in Nazashi's head.

Sakura and Tenten gasped, was this really the same Shikamaru they knew. Their Shikamaru seemed to never be able to even win anything except Shougi and Go. But now this, he had killed his opponent mercilessly. '_Could Ino's death have affected him more than we thought?'_ wondered Tenten.

'_Looks like Shikamaru grew up…'_ thought Gai, '_yet he didn't have to kill his opponent…'_

When the arena was once again cleared, Asuma announced, "The next match: Hyuga Hinata vs. Hikoma of the Cloud!"

Both fighters jumped down to the floor of the stadium and stood apart from each other.

"BEGIN!" yelled Asuma.

Hinata instantly activated her Byakugan and went into the Gentle Fist fighting stance. The Cloud-nin remained standing in her loose fighting stance, but prepared herself to throw shuriken and kunai.

Hinata seeing that her opponent wasn't going to attack, decided to jump in and rushed straight for the Cloud-nin. Hikoma instantly threw 3 chakra-enhanced shuriken straight at Hinata and jumped to the side preparing to throw more. Hinata saw that the shuriken had chakra in them, so merely parried them with her chakra-enhanced kunai. However when her kunai connected with the shuriken she felt a slight pang of pain in hand, but decided to ignore it.

The Cloud-nin, meanwhile, noticed Hinata grimace a little when the shuriken connected with the kunai, but happily noted that her opponent didn't understand what had happened. '_Good, the less she knows about my chakra the better, especially since she has the Byakugan.'_

Hinata noticed that her opponent seemed to want to stay away from her and would rather fight long range. '_Alright then, I'll just have to increase my speed a little bit more and catch up to her'_ mused Hinata as she transferred more chakra into her legs.

'_So it's true,' _thought the Cloud-nin, '_the Hyuga mostly only fight close range and don't really know any long range jutsus.'_ The Cloud-nin then performed several seals, "Raiton: Lightning Bolt no Jutsu" and from out of her right hand lightning shot forth heading straight for Hinata.

Hinata was forced to stop her assault and dodge to the lightning, which continued straight and eventually hit the wall behind her. Hikoma performed a longer list of seals, "Raiton: Lightning Bolt Strike." Five lightning bolts shots out from Hikoma's fingers.

'_Her chakra is being heavily concentrated to her right hand only…' _analyzed Hinata,_ 'I guess that is the only place she can shoot it out from.'_ Hinata being unable to dodge these simply waited for them to get closer and prepared herself. "Kaiten" she cried once the lightning bolts were close enough and spun around making her chakra form a sphere around her and completely deflecting the lightning.

'_Those are pretty low-level lightning jutsus,'_ commented Nazashi, '_though she seems to have some sort of plan.'_

"Kakashi-sensei, how does she shoot lightning out of her fingers like that?" asked Sakura.

"I'm surprised you don't know, Sakura, Could-nin are well known for being able to convert their chakra into electric energy and emit it from their fingers," explained Kakashi.

"Also because they have used lightning for so many centuries, they are naturally born with the ability to generate it," added Kurenai.

As soon as she came out of her Kaiten, Hinata made a rush at the Cloud-nin and managed a clean hit, while the Cloud-nin's shock hadn't worn yet. Hinata managed to hit the Cloud-nin in her right shoulder closing off an opening point, making in impossible to send chakra to the right hand.

'_Good I knew she was going to press this one… now to play along with her,'_ thought Hikoma. She proceeded to make it look like she trying to channel chakra to her arm but failing miserably.

Hinata saw this as an opportunity to do her 64 Hands of the Hakke, and finish off the match. Hinata got into the appropriate stance, but just as she was about to begin her opponent started performing a long list of seals. The most horrifying thing, for Hinata, being that the Cloud-nin was able to channel chakra into her right arm, '_impossible I had just closed it.'_

Before Hinata could react, Hikoma finished her seals, put her hands together such that the wrists were touching and fingers were out-stretched and yelled, "Raiton: Spiral no Jutsu."

A bolt of lightning shot out from every single finger and formed together into a spiral, which then shot out at an incredible speed straight into Hinata.

'_Lighting Spiral, seen it done by Raiko-sensei… I wasn't able to learn it though. For some reason I can't combine the lightning from my left and right hand with stability,'_ commented Nazashi.

The Spiral hit Hinata in the middle of the chest, making the rest of her body shudder uncontrollably as the electricity caroused its way through Hinata's body. Considering that the impact came so close to the heart, Hinata had lost consciousness soon after.

"Winner: Hikoma of the Cloud!" said Asuma.

'_Any more power or any closer to the heart, and Hinata would have been dead,'_ thought Nazashi, '_but she wasn't going for a kill.'_

Sakura and Tenten were worried for their close friend; they had, not too long ago, lost Ino and they didn't want to lose Hinata too. The medical team rushed to the scene and quickly carried the Hyuga heiress away. Shino was just watching quietly, but internally was also worried for his former teammate.

'_That attack seems like a likely candidate for what happened to Kiba and Akamaru. The latter dying instantly from it, but there's not doubt that Kiba took that attack and was killed by something else entirely.'_ Kakashi contemplated, still trying to figure out who had killed those five Leaf-nin during the first exam.

'_Out of eleven we are down to two…'_ mused Gai, '_however Sasuke's fight is yet to be fought.'_ Gai grimaced at the thought of what could happen to the Uchiha.

Nazashi could already sense the tension that his and Sasuke's fight was creating, '_wait people, wait; you'll get to see your precious "last survivor of the Uchiha" fall from grace soon enough.'_ Inside Nazashi was boiling over with killer intent at the young Uchiha, hoping that the next match wouldn't take too long.

"The third match will now take place: Sato of the Sand vs. Kurono of the Snow!" yelled Asuma.

Both participants jumped down and waited for the match to start.

"BEGIN!" yelled Asuma.

Kurono instantly re-gathered the mist from the previous match, except this one was less thick and seemed to swirl around. Suddenly it got colder in the stadium and close to freezing down in the arena.

'_Jeez, forcing me to use my chakra to keep warm,'_ complained Nazashi slightly. '_Well that's a Snow-nin for ya, they specialize in manipulating ice and snow. Sort of like Haku… his bloodline was a cross between a Mist bloodline and a Snow bloodline.'_

Meanwhile the Sand-nin found himself shivering, since he wasn't used to cold weather. He tried to use a wind attack to scatter the mist, but only added to the cold. '_Go ahead, keep attacking me with your wind,'_ thought the Snow-nin, '_my attack is heavily based on wind and unless he figures that out he won't be able to counter. But I better not give the chance anyway.'_

Kurono rushed at Sato while performing several seals, when she got close to him she said, "Yukiton: Ice Touch no Jutsu." (A/N: yuki means snow) Kurono began wildly attacking Sato with mostly punches, the one thing the Sand-nin didn't notice was that Kurono's hands changed to a slightly bluish color. After several minutes of a taijutsu fight the Snow-nin backed off from her opponent.

The Sand-nin now noticed that the wherever his opponent struck him with her hands it was slightly frostbitten. Considering that she had hit him all over his arms and upper torso, his movements were impaired quite a bit.

'_Everyone seems to have liked my pressure point techniques and is modifying their own styles for a similar effect,'_ mused Nazashi a little annoyed that his style was being copied. '_They are SO far from the Kyusho Dimmak style, it's just funny.' _

Kurono, meanwhile, had already starter performing a long list of seals. When she finished she put her fingers to her lips and whispered, "Yukiton: Ice Shards" and then shots out several dozen small, but deadly, shards of ice in the form of needles. These needles were shot out in a semi-circle that covered the entire half of the arena where the Sand-nin was.

The Sand-nin was already at a considerable disadvantage because of the frostbite and the unrelenting, cold bringing mist that kept swirling around him. He tried to dodge the shards that were flying at him, but was unable to get clear of all of them. He discovered that the place where the Ice Shard hit him became numb, '_Shit! More frostbitten places on my body. I guess I'll have to try it…'_

Sato performed a list of hands seals as quickly as he could and yelled, "Fuuiton: Hurricane Winds no Jutsu." An enormous amount of wind hurled itself at the Snow-nin, who immediately tried to dodge. Even though she was able to avoid the bulk of the attack, she was still hit by the side winds and thrown toward the wall.

The Snow-nin managed to turn her body around in mid-air and land on the wall in a crouching position. Not wasting anytime and before more wind could hit her, she ran up the wall and stopped near the top. Looking back at her opponent she once again did a long list of seals and yelled, "Yukiton: Icy Whirlwind no Jutsu."

The water molecules in the rotating mist condensed to form Ice Shards and the wind speed increased. The Sand-nin was unable to dodge or parry all the Ice Shards that were rotating about him and gradually the spectators could see that the numerous Ice Shards were turning red. The Snow-nin, meanwhile, hadn't moved from her position was continuing her attack.

'_She's going to kill him,'_ thought Asuma, '_this match is already decided, I should step in now.'_

Asuma then appeared right next to Kurono and grabbed her hands telling her to stop the attack. Kurono looked up and seeing that it was the examiner, nodded slightly and released the attack.

As the wind died down and the Ice Shards fell to the ground, almost instantly melting in the sun, everyone could see the heavily cut-up body of the Sand-nin. He was down on his knees holding his arms over his head just trying to stay alive. As soon he registered that it was over he simply fell down to the ground unconscious.

"Winner: Kurono of the Snow!" yelled Asuma.

"Now the fourth and final match:" yelled Asuma. He could hear murmuring and rustling of the crowd above him, "Uchiha Sasuke vs. Nazashi of the Grass!"

While Sasuke jumped down to the arena, Nazashi decided to show-off and used a teleportation jutsu to get down; Sasuke scowled at the technique.

Up in the Stands

"You're looking rather confident," said Gai.

"Why shouldn't I be?" asked Kakashi, "Sasuke's a good shinobi."

'_Sasuke's the BEST!'_ yelled inner-Sakura.

"You're not worried at all?" asked Gai.

"Why should I be?" said Kakashi flatly, "The way I remember it Sasuke could beat Lee."

"While using the sharingan," countered Gai.

"Yes, and he can use it right now… unlike your stupid rules" said Kakashi in an amused tone.

"My rules were very smart, why should people with bloodlines have advantages in taijutsu?" asked Gai and went on to blabber non-sense, which everyone ignored.

"You say something?" asked Kakashi when Gai finally quieted down.

"ARGH!" yelled Gai in frustration. "But never mind that it's not important right now…"

"You do know what style Nazashi was using in the previous exam, right?" asked Gai in a calculated tone already guessing that Kakashi had no idea.

"Not the style no, but it was something to do with pressure points, that's all I know. But it

shouldn't matter Sasuke's sharingan will be able to copy and counter it" replied Kakashi in an arrogant tone.

Gai sighed, "Then allow me to enlighten you, Nazashi was using the Kyusho Dimmak style."

Kakashi's eyes widened in shock, "NO WAY!"

"What is it Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura in a worried tone.

"But that art was lost hundreds of years ago?" questioned Kakashi of the taijutsu expert.

"Supposedly... but it seems someone," he motions down at Nazashi, "still knows it..."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the Kyusho Dimmak based on VERY high speed?" asked Kakashi.

"Yes, it is" replied Gai in a grave tone.

"Then he wasn't showing his full power at the taijutsu exam... was he?" Kakashi asked in a nervous voice.

"No, you're right the Kyusho Dimmak is based on incredible speed, but for a special reason. The Kyusho Dimmak uses combinations of pressure points. To the normal eye it would look like he's pressing one, but in reality he's pressing multiple points. To be able to do that in milliseconds his speed… well… it is most likely faster than even what I can do." Sakura's eyes widened in horror.

"Because it is based on combinations of pressure points, Sasuke would have to know where the pressure points are to be able to actually use it. The sharingan although probably able to copy the movements, wouldn't tell where the points are or the exact force to press them with," explained Gai in a serious tone.

"My god..." whispered Kakashi, "Sasuke can't fight close range with him then..."

"Exactly, but not only that, we don't know his ninjutsu capabilities either..." said Gai, "personally he strikes me as more of a ninjutsu person than taijutsu," said Gai looking over at Nazashi.

"Well Sasuke is very well versed in ninjutsu and genjutsu," said Kakashi somewhat nervously because of what he had just heard. "Plus he can copy that guy's ninjutsus."

'_That's right! Sasuke-kun will definitely win!'_ thought Sakura.

'_I wonder…'_ thought Gai.

Back to the Arena

Nazashi and Sasuke gazed at each other, each sizing up his opponent.

'_He's too damn calm,'_ thought Sasuke, '_and that air of absolute confidence… it's too much like Itachi's.'_ Sasuke's frown deepened at the thought of his brother.

"BEGIN!" yelled Asuma and quickly jumped out of the way.

Sasuke quickly formed some seals, "Katon: Housenka" he whispered and five balls of flame sped their way towards Nazashi, who was doing his own seals. To Sasuke's surprise Nazashi did the exact same seals as Sasuke and launched his own 5 fireballs to counter Sasuke's.

Sasuke was even more surprised when the shuriken that he had planted in the fire, clattered down to the ground, deflected by Nazashi's shuriken, which he had also placed into his fireballs. '_Predictable Sasuke. But how about this…?'_

Nazashi repeated his previous seals and sent 5 more fireballs with shuriken at Sasuke. Sasuke calmly prepared to counter attack the same way Nazashi had done, when something very unexpected happened. Half way to target the amount of fireballs increased, there were now at least 50 fireballs coming at Sasuke. '_What the hell? How can he do that?'_ thought Sasuke.

Sasuke had no choice, but to put up a wall '_I will temporarily loose sight of him, but there's no other way.'_ Doing several seals and slamming his palms on the ground Sasuke said, "Doton: Earth Wall no Jutsu" a massive wall rose out of the ground in front of Sasuke, blocking Nazashi's attack.

When the fireballs hit, all but 5 vanished into a puff of smoke.

"Kage Bushin?" asked Kakashi incredulously, unable to hide his amazement, "How can he do that to a fire jutsu?"

The rest of the jounin were equally shocked, '_Kage Bushin is a forbidden jutsu of this village, how could he know it?' _wondered Gai.

As soon as Nazashi had seen Sasuke start putting up the wall he did a few seals, stomped his foot on the ground and whispered, "Doton: Earth Spikes." Everyone was once again shocked when the saw the Earth Spikes come out of the ground below Sasuke. '_Better to do it this was so that even if he sees me with his sharingan he won't be able to copy, since he doesn't know the secret to performing Doton jutsus without touching your hands to the ground. Thank you, Kyuubi, for telling me to take that scroll from that Stone-nin.'_

"When did he have time to do that jutsu?" asked a shocked Sakura.

"We must have been completely distracted by the Housenka to notice…" replied Gai uncertainly.

'_He didn't even touch his palms to the ground…'_ mused Kakashi a bit frightened, '_could that one be a clone?'_

Sasuke had just blocked the fireballs and had now activated his sharingan, so he could see some chakra forming below him. But still he only had a half a second to jump away before the first spike came out, instantly followed by the next. The spikes seemed to know where he was jumping and followed him quite closely.

Nazashi noted that even though Sasuke was avoiding the spikes, he was still watching him intently with his sharingan. '_Fine then… we'll see how smart you really are…'_ thought Nazashi as he prepared to execute his plan.

Nazashi formed several seals a little slower than usual and placed his palms to the ground, "Doton: Land Bind no Jutsu." The ground then quickly crawled up Sasuke's legs and solidified, not letting him move.

Before Sasuke could react, Nazashi's foot had already connected with the right side of his face and sent him flying into the nearest wall. However right after Sasuke hit the wall, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

'_So he knows Kage Bushin… the more interesting.'_ Nazashi smirked under his mask.

After his clone was destroyed, Sasuke came out of hiding and slammed his foot into Nazashi's stomach. He then followed up with an uppercut to the chin and finally took out his kunai and slammed it into Nazashi's chest.

The crowd gasped, Kakashi smirked and Sakura was overjoyed that Sasuke was able to turn the tables around like that. But their joy did not last long.

"Ouch…" said Nazashi, "that hurt…" and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"A Kage Bushin!?" screamed Sakura as her face twisted from a smile to a frown.

"All those jutsus were done by a clone…" muttered Kakashi unbelievingly.

Down below Sasuke was equally surprised, '_that's impossible a Kage Bushin is supposed to break as soon as it's hit.'_

"How Kakashi-sensei? How?" yelled Sakura.

"A Charka Re-enforced Kage Bushin" said Kakashi, '_But if that's the case then where is the real one?'_

Sasuke frantically looked around for his opponent and saw him leaning on tree not too far away. Sasuke made to run, but found that his legs were bound by something. Looking down he saw some sort of vines wrapped around his legs.

"You shouldn't assume that your opponent is dead just because you hit him in a critical area" said Nazashi. Sasuke just glared at him and tried to cut the vines with his kunai, but found that they were as hard as steel.

'_What the hell?'_ wondered Sasuke, '_And why isn't he rushing at me like he did last time…? Oh I see… he needs a source for these vines, they must be acting as a supplement to the roots of the tree and he'll lose control of them if he breaks control with the tree.'_

Sasuke then did several quick seals and simply said, "Katon: Goukakyuu" and shot a massive fireball straight at Nazashi. '_So he's figured it out… I could counter, but I'll make it look like I was taken unawares.'_

Nazashi then jumped to the side right before the fireball hit him. Just as Sasuke had predicted the vines instantly let go and not losing a moments time Sasuke's did a few seals slammed his palms on the ground and said, "Doton: Land Bind no Jutsu." Nazashi expanded his eyes a little bit in an attempt to look shocked, '_I knew he was gonna copy me. Now will he do what I think he'll do?'_

Sasuke did a few seals, put his right hand over his left elbow, yelled, "Chidori" and rushed at full speed towards Nazashi._ 'Yes! Sasuke you are so predictable… a coping idiot just like your teacher'_ laughed Nazashi, but Sasuke couldn't hear his laughter because of the deafening sound of the Chidori.

'_NO! He's too calm, Sasuke!'_ yelled Kakashi in his mind.__

Just as the Chidori was about to contact, Nazashi grabbed Sasuke's wrist and held him there. Sasuke's eyes widened slightly as his Chidori slowly died. Nazashi then whispered so that only Sasuke could hear, "hey Sasuke, déjà vu."

With that he broke Sasuke's wrist and quickly kicked him into the wall on the other side of the arena. As soon as Sasuke impacted the wall, Nazashi was already there and punched him in the chest making Sasuke spit out blood. He then kneed Sasuke in the face and punched once again in the stomach slamming him into the wall, making even more blood come out.

Before Sasuke's body could fall to the ground, Nazashi grabbed him by the neck and slammed him into the wall once again. He then raised his left hand to his chest, closed his eyes and did several quick one-handed seals.

When Nazashi opened his eyes again they weren't blue anymore, they were blood red with a slit down the middle. Sasuke realized that he had seen those eyes before, but could place it. Nazashi then did a few more hand seals and gazed intently straight into Sasuke's eyes. Sasuke felt as if Nazashi was looking straight through him, all the way to his soul.

Nazashi whispered very quietly, "Hell: Level 2." (A/N: explanation at the bottom) Sasuke screamed out as the jutsu started taking effect and kept screaming as if he was being wounded, which he was. Nazashi held him like that for 30 seconds waiting for the jutsu to completely envelop him, after which time he simply let Sasuke's body drop to the ground and walked away, disabling his Demon's Eyes.

The spectators were shocked. One minute it looks like Sasuke's going to win no matter what and the next one of his strongest attacks has been countered and he's taking the beating of his life.

"One-handed seals…" mumbled Kakashi, he already had his sharingan out, but still could not make out what Nazashi was doing. '_He's transferring a lot of chakra to his eyes… it must be some sort of Doujutsu.'_

Then when they heardSasuke scream out as if he was being tortured, everyone simply cringed. Sakura could not believe that this was happening, the jounin could not understand what Nazashi was doing to him. Tsunade leaned forward in her chair and watched in shock as Sasuke continued screaming even after his opponent had let him go and walked away.

"Winner: Nazashi of the Grass!" said Asuma in a dazed tone.

That one statement snapped everyone out of their daze and they instantly jumped down to aid Sasuke. Even the Hokage was down there, examining him.

'_Good, he better get his wounds treated or they will kill him'_ thought Nazashi amused.

"We must get him to the hospital IMMEDIATELY!" yelled Tsunade. Kakashi picked him up and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. "Now wrap up this test so that I can go treat him," instructed Tsunade.

"Will the winners please come down to the arena?" asked Asuma.

The winners did as they instructed, Asuma told to report back here tomorrow, and they were dismissed very soon after.

For some reason, Nazashi calmly walked out of the stadium and went to walk around the village. '_That damn Sasuke, getting special medical attention from the Hokage… I didn't see her do that for Hinata, or anyone else for that matter'_ mused Nazashi angrily.

He walked around for sometime and somehow found his way to the north gate. '_Huh… I remember this place…'_ Memories of his escape and liberation from the Leaf Village flashed in Nazashi's mind. '_That night, five years ago, was the start of something very, very great.'_

He suddenly caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye. It was Hinata, walking towards him '_Oh shit, I better hide'_ thought Nazashi as he jumped up to the roof of the closest building and did a jutsu to eliminate his presence. '_Just please don't let her use the Byakugan, I can hide from that using this jutsu.'_

But Hinata didn't even notice him, she just kept on walking straight towards the gate. That's when Nazashi noticed that she held a flower in her hands, '_could that be for Neji?'_ wondered Nazashi, '_no it couldn't be we left from the west gate… then why?'_ Nazashi decided to stay in his hiding place and observe her.

Hinata reached the gate, jumped up onto it and sat there looking out of the village for several minutes before speaking. "Naruto-kun…" she said in a low voice, but Nazashi could still hear her using his advanced hearing.

(A/N: I'm gonna call Naruto by his proper name again)

'_What the hell? Did she figure out that it's me!?'_ panicked Naruto already considering several ways to keep her quiet.

"…Naruto-kun… it's been 5 and a half years…" continued Hinata, "since you left…"

'_Yeah… she's right it has been that long,'_ agreed Naruto considering the seasons. '_She actually keeps track?'_ he wondered.

"Why did you leave? Why did you have to go?" Hinata said now in a strained voice.

"I know you weren't that well liked by the village, but… did you really have to go?" as she said this Naruto could hear quiet crying.

'_She's crying… why?'_ Naruto was now confused.

"Naruto-kun… I should have told you, before you left… I-I-I-I was too scared, back then, but now… if only you would come back… I would tell you now… I would tell you that…" Hinata hesitated making sure that there was no one around. "I love you, Naruto-kun, I love you with all my heart…"

Naruto recoiled in shock, '_Sh-sh-she l-l-l-loves me???'_ Naruto's mind managed to stutter out. '_No way…' _Naruto instantly composed himself again,_ 'she doesn't love the REAL me. She doesn't love the half-demon. She's living in ignorance and doesn't know about my past, she would HATE me just like the rest of those fucking bastards, if she knew,'_ concluded Naruto.

Hinata cried for a little while longer before wiping off her tears throwing the flower over the wall and walking away, whispering "please come back soon, Naruto-kun."

Naruto sat there for a few more minutes digesting everything he had heard.

'_She would be perfect…all I would have to do is… yea I can pull that off… yes, yes, yes!!!' _Naruto was ecstatic_. _

"Yes, she is prefect…" said Naruto in an evil tone with an evil smile and an evil chuckle.

* * *

**Demon's Eye:**

Natural Ability: Can see through the strongest genjutsus, sharingan can't copy techniques because the chakra that starts flowing through Naruto's body in half or more demonic so all of the jutsus are done a bit differently from how a human would do them, and increases the amount of killer intent given off. (A/N: HA, I actually have a theory why the sharingan doesn't work...)

Charka Enhanced: [some hand seals required]

_Slow Motion _- To you it looks like the world is moving in slow motion, but you are moving at regular speed.

_Mind Power _- You are able to resist Mangekyuo sharingan, Ino's mind-switch technique; any kind of mind technique

_Hell: level (x) _– [activated via several one handed seals] Combination of _Mind Power _and telepathy techniques; your opponent is thrown into the (x) level of hell. While there he experiences quite a bit of torture (varies), also any physical wounds that he experiences manifest themselves in reality. Based on Kyuubi's memories of hell, commonly lasts for 12 hours, during which time the victim is NOT killed but rather has a VERY near death experience and may die if wounds are not treated.


	11. Assassination

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately). I do own all of my own characters.

Thank you to all my reviewers!!! you ppl r so nice :-)

"blah" = speech  
'_blah'_ = thoughts

A/N: a 2nd version of ch10 is up.

ic everyone loved my cliffhanger for chapter 10 =D

here it is... wat the jounin exam was really leading up to...  
also im not good at writing fluffy stuff so dont expect much.

**OpposingForce** - I already support you!  
other reviews are answered in new ch10

* * *

Chapter 11 – Assassination

"Yes, she will definitely be perfect," mused Naruto, "now all I have to do is make preparations and tie-up loose ends."

**

* * *

****Several Hours Later**

Naruto dressed in black shorts and a gray t-shirt, without his facemask, was standing at the edge of the forest looking over at the three-log training area. He kneeled down to pet his toad, "thanks Gamakichi,´ and gave it a cookie. The toad munched down the cookie and disappeared. '_I prefer foxes for surveillance, but in this village they're a little risky.'_

'_Alright, here goes…'_ thought Naruto talking a deep breath and started to slowly walk toward the logs.

As he got closer a small figure became more and more visible. The figure was sitting with her back to the center log and her face buried in her hands, which were resting on top of her knees. Faint sobs could be heard coming from the girl.

Naruto walked up to her and knelt down, "Hinata-chan, what's wrong?"

"I failed him!" she sobbed out, not even looking up.

"Failed?" asked Naruto in a caring tone. "I'm sure you didn't fail anyone," reassured Naruto.

"Yes, yes… I failed him…" Hinata trailed off as a thought crossed her mind, '_Hinata-chan? Nobody calls me that._' Hinata's head suddenly shot up to look at whom she was talking to.

"Na-Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata in an unsure tone, '_is it really him?'_

"Yeah, Hinata-chan, it's me" answered Naruto with a slight smile.

"Oh, Naruto-kun,´ said Hinata and threw her arms around the blonde boy, crying on his shoulder.

'_I gotta thank Raiko next time I see him for teaching me about this kind of stuff,'_ thought Naruto with a silent chuckle. '_He's sure got a hell of a lot more class than Ero-Sennin…'_

"It's alright Hinata-chan," comforted Naruto, "everything will be fine."

Naruto put one hand on her back and the other on her head. He gently stroked her hair while whispering comforting words in her ear. After a little while Hinata managed to calm down enough to speak coherently.

"Oh Naruto-kun, I'm so glad you're back" she said with a shy smile.

"Really?" asked Naruto somewhat teasingly.

"Yes! Oh, it's so good to have you back Naruto-kun," Hinata hugged Naruto tighter. '_This is like a dream. My prayers have been answered!'_

"It's good to be back," said Naruto with a content but sad sigh.

Hinata pulled away from him slightly, even though her body protested, to look into his now darker blue eyes. Caringly she asked, "why, Naruto-kun?"

"Why what, Hinata-chan?" asked Naruto softly.

"Why did you leave?" she asked with a downcast eyes.

"Oh that…" Naruto's mood darkened slightly, "you know when the village that you almost die protecting hates you, the person that you save resents you for it and there's no one that really cares for you, what's the point of staying?" said Naruto softly and coldly.

"Oh, Naruto-kun" said Hinata and started crying again. '_And I'm to blame for this too…' _"I'm so sorry," she kept repeating.

"Nothing to be sorry for Hinata-chan," comforted Naruto. '_Really, she had nothing at all to do with my leaving.'_

"Naruto-kun, I should have told you a long time ago…" Hinata said in just above a whisper.

"Told me what Hinata-chan?"

"Naruto-kun, I-I-I l-love you," Hinata said blushing as red as a cherry and kissed him passionately. Naruto quickly reciprocated the kiss.

'_Mmm… Hinata-chan is a good kisser…'_ thought Naruto. '_NO! Don't lose sight of the objective.'_

Naruto gently broke the kiss and looked at Hinata, "I love you too Hinata-chan," said Naruto caringly and kissed her again. During the kiss Naruto felt moisture on Hinata's cheek and pulled away, "why are you crying Hinata-chan?"

"I'm happy…" answered Hinata, I'm so, so happy… that you're here now… with me…" said Hinata in between kisses.

Hinata broke the series of kisses and looked at Naruto curiously, "Naruto-kun, why do you have fangs?"

'_Oh shit! Didn't consider that…'_ cursed Naruto. '_Tell her about the Kyuubi? Hell no! I'm not going to wash by plan down the drain…'_

"It's a… it's just something related to my blood limit," replied Naruto inwardly happy at the look in her eyes; she bought it. '_Phew… quick save. Not really a lie either.'_

Hinata's look went from understanding to curiosity once again, "I'm curious, Naruto-kun, when did you return?" she asked of her newfound lover.

"Just now, several hours ago," replied Naruto.

"How did you get in?" followed up Hinata.

"You mean how does a Class S Missing-nin make his way inside the Leaf Village?" asked Naruto chuckling. __

Hinata nodded, slightly surprised that he called himself a Class S Missing-nin. '_Why such negativity Naruto-kun?'_

Naruto noticed the surprise on Hinata's face, '_Crap, I must not be officially rated as Class S. just hope she doesn't get suspicious… Damn it, I'm having too many slip ups.'_

"Well, I did grow up in this village. I know the less guarded places," explained Naruto, but chose to omit mention of his stealth skills and jutsus. '_No need for her to be curious about my training.'_

"Naruto-kun is still great…" said Hinata here face lighting up. Hinata then suddenly frowned, "you're not going to leave again are you?" questioned Hinata with tears in her eyes.

"No, don't worry Hinata-chan, I'm not going anywhere… I'll stay here with you," said Naruto once again sealing their lips. '_at least for the time being…'_ thought Naruto.

"I'm gonna go talk with Tsunade tomorrow" said Naruto confidently.

"You mean you came to me first?" Hinata asked shyly with a slight blush.

"Yeah…" replied Naruto softly.

"How come?" she continued.

"Because I realized during my journey that I really like you," answered Naruto in a caring tone. '_God, I feel so bad lying to her,'_ thought Naruto with a pang of regret going through his heart.

They stayed like that, hugging and kissing until nightfall. Naruto telling her about his adventures; a modified version of course. In turn Hinata told Naruto of what had happened in the Leaf since he left. They finally realized what time it was when the cold night breeze swept by them.

"It's gotten late, Hinata-chan," said Naruto.

"Yeah…" replied Hinata sadly, "we have to go home now."

"Umm… actually Hinata-chan… I don't have a place to go to," said Naruto sorrowfully. "Well it's alright really," he continued with a fake smile, "I'll just sleep in some tree in the forest." He turned and slowly started walking toward the forest.

Hinata contemplated for a bit, but in the end could not stand the thought of her lover sleeping in the forest. "Wait Naruto-kun!" cried Hinata, "Don't go!" Naruto couldn't help but smirk mischievously, '_so far so good.'_

She ran up to him and grabbed his arm then blushing furiously said, "you can sleep over at my place."

"Really!?" exclaimed Naruto. "But will your family actually let me stay?" he continued sadly.

"Don't worry Naruto-kun, I can sneak you in. Trust me!" said Hinata pulling Naruto in the direction of her house.

"Alright Hinata-chan, I'll trust you" said Naruto and followed her.

Hinata and Naruto successfully snuck in via a very well hidden backdoor and were soon within the safety of Hinata's room. Inwardly Naruto chuckled evilly, '_this is it… thank you very much Hinata. Not it's mission start!'_

While Hinata had her back turned, Naruto quickly did a few hand seals. Then he walked up to her and gave her a passionate open-mounted kiss, during which he breathed out into her. Within five seconds Hinata's body fell limp into Naruto's arms. Naruto gently put her in bed and whispered, "Sleep now Hinata… you've been a great help. I'm sorry for all this, but I'll at least give you the gift of life."

Naruto then pulled out a scroll from his pocket, put in on the floor and quickly unrolled it. In a cloud of smoke the scroll was gone, but in its place appeared black clothing, a holster, a katana and a backpack. Naruto quickly put all this on and looked very much like he had for the jounin exam with several exceptions.

Instead of a kunai he had throwing knives, he also wore a black hat that was specially made to be longer at the back to completely cover all of Naruto's hair and end at the bottom of the neck and on the top of his left sleeve he had the emblem of the nine-tails in blood red.

Before moving out Naruto did a final check and grew his nails by several millimeters, '_perfect…the conditions couldn't be better; the dark of the night covers me, Tsunade is busy with Sasuke at the hospital and most of the village is going to be or already is asleep. Well, time to go,'_ thought Naruto and with a few hand seals he disappeared.

**

* * *

****Flashback**

"The mission parameters are simple: you are to assassinate five Hyuga clan leaders and the head of the Main Family" said Itachi in a cool tone.

"Simple? You call that simple!?" yelled Naruto.

"The parameters are simple," continued Itachi, "I didn't say anything about the execution." Naruto just sighed.

"That's another reason you're going alone, it will be easier to get one person into the Hyuga Manor." Still no response from Naruto.

Itachi then hit Naruto upside the head, "hey you listening?"

"Damn it! Let me think!" yelled Naruto, "I'm trying to memorize their faces here! Not to mention get well acquainted with the manor blueprints!" '_And figure how the hell I'm gonna take on one of the most powerful bloodlines in the world.'_

"You can do that later," said Itachi absent mindedly, "I'm just trying to remind you of all the things you have to do on assassination missions…"

"It's not like I haven't done this before," yelled an aggravated Naruto.

Itachi paid him no heed, "first of, remember that you'll need to bring back the heads as proof…"

"Damn it Itachi!" screamed Naruto rubbing his temples, "You're really not helping me right now!" Itachi gave him an unreadable look and continued his lecture as if nothing happened.

**

* * *

****End Flashback**

Hyuga Hiashi was strolling around the Hyuga Manor enjoying the peaceful night and thinking about the turbulent events of the jounin exam. '_Hinata lost again… not surprising really… she's gotten stronger, though still not good enough'_ mused Hiashi. '_Then there was that Grass-nin, terrifying, Sasuke was still convulsing when I saw him in the hospital. I wonder what that Doujutsu really did to him.' _Hiashi's thoughts went back to the Grass-nin,_ 'for some reason, I can't shake the feeling of danger from him…'_ (A/N: more on Sasuke's condition and effects of Naruto's Doujutsu in the next chapter)

Just then Hiashi heard the sound of metal hitting metal, '_what the…?'_ thought Hiashi as he went over next to the door from where the sound came. A few seconds later, he heard a ripping sound followed closely by a thud. '_That sounded too much like a body dropping,'_ figured Hiashi and swung open the door. He was prepared for almost anything except this.

Naruto had just cut off the head of his fourth target and put it in his backpack, '_jeez, are all the Hyuga this easy. This was the first one to retaliate… granted the rest were asleep, but still.'_ Naruto's musings were cut off when the door burst open, without warning, to show the last person Naruto wanted to see, Hiashi.

'_Shit! I was going to leave him for last.'_ As soon as Naruto finished that thought the alarm sounded, '_God damn it! Somebody must have found one of the other bodies. Now not only Hiashi, but the rest of the Hyuga.'_ Naruto mentally cursed in one long colorful sentence.

They looked at each other for a second, '_it's definitely that Grass-nin from the exam'_ thought Hiashi instantly recognizing the assassin. Naruto realized that Hiashi was in shock and hence saw his opportunity.

'_No time to lose, he's not battle ready…'_ thought Naruto instantly coming up with a next action. Naruto disappeared and re-appeared right behind Hiashi. Naruto then hit him hard in the lower back, breaking Hiashi's lower spine. As Hiashi started falling, Naruto took out his sword preparing to cut off Hiashi's head.

Hiashi, however, had other plans '_I may not survive, but at least I'll injure him' _he thought. He then suddenly twisted around a little and hit Naruto square over his heart. That didn't save him, as Naruto's katana still went through Hiashi's neck. Naruto wasn't in a very good condition though.

'_Shit! A Hyuga deathblow… can't feel chakra in my heart…damn you Hiashi!'_ cursed Naruto. '_I'm gonna have to use it then,'_ concluded Naruto as he fell down to his hands and knees.

"Demon Regeneration," said Naruto pulling out Kyuubi's chakra. A thin red cloud developed around Naruto and lingered there for about two seconds. It was then quickly absorbed into Naruto's body, mostly his chest. '_The only downfall right now is that I can't hide this much chakra.'_

No sooner than he had healed himself, Naruto heard a commotion at the end of the hallway. Looking up he saw three Hyuga guards running toward him. Grabbing Hiashi's head, Naruto quickly Shadow Stepped away without a particular destination.

Elsewhere in the Leaf Village, Jiraiya was up to his usual "business" when he suddenly sensed a certain chakra, '_that chakra signature… I'd recognize it anywhere, it's too unique… but what's it doing here?'_ Jiraiya instantly forgot about his previous activities and rushed to find the chakra.

Meanwhile, Naruto had Shadow Stepped into an open field in the middle of the Hyuga Manor. Turning around he saw two clan leaders running side by side toward him, '_luck…_'

Without another seconds delay Naruto charged up two Rasengans, behind his back. The Hyuga were too shocked that he had just appeared almost directly in front of them and did not have the time to react properly. So when the Hyuga got close enough, Naruto slammed each Rasengan into one of the clan leaders. Unable to dodge they took the attack head on and were thrown back with immense force.

Naruto gripped the hilt of his katana and Shadow Stepped to where the two Hyuga were being blown. Once there he formed a cushion of chakra underneath his feet, unsheathed his already bloody katana and held it at the Hyugas' neck level. Once the Hyuga were right next to him, he used the chakra cushion to rotate himself 360 degrees within half a second.

Back to facing his original direction he instantly sheathed his katana and grabbed both Hyuga by the hair. Just as he did that the momentum from the Rasengans blew the bodies backwards, but the heads stayed in Naruto's hands. Knowing he had no time to lose, he quickly put the heads in his backpack along with the rest.

By this time the rest of the manor was already awake, so Naruto was being attacked by two-dozen Hyuga. '_Shit! Shit! Shit!_' cursed Naruto, '_These odds are hard enough, but the ANBU are undoubtedly on their way and not to mention any other ninja in the area… I don't need that. I can't handle the entire village.'_

'_Fight off these… make for the wall…'_ contemplated Naruto while parrying off attacks, '_and then high tail it the hell out of here,'_ concluded Naruto. '_Sounds like a plan.'_

"Chakra Ripple" whispered Naruto and a small wave of chakra hit all the people around Naruto pushing them back. Naruto did several dozen hand seals and heavily stomped his foot on the ground, "Kinjutsu - Doton: Desert Sea" he said. Instantly the entire field around him turned into quicksand, sucking down everyone unfortunate enough to step on it (which was everyone, except Naruto of course). Naruto's opponents tried to counter this by putting more chakra into their feet and were absolutely shocked when that actually worked against them.

Naruto noticed the looks of shock and horror on their faces and smirked, '_the beauty of Desert Sea is that it pulls in chakra. So the more you use to try and keep yourself afloat to faster it will pull you in.'_ Naruto blessed his natural affinity for Earth Jutsus.

Upon noticing that most of the Hyuga were sucked in at least up to the knees he did two hands seals, "Solidify." The quicksand sea instantly became solid ground effectively trapping all of Naruto's opponents. '_Now!'_ thought Naruto.

He once again made a chakra cushion under his feet while performing several hand seals, "Katon: Grand Housenka" he whispered and started rotating around while shooting out fireballs. Making it look like he was firing them in all direction at the same time.

Some of the Hyuga were able to duck under the attack and other more powerful ones were able to use Kaiten to block the projectiles and free themselves from the ground. The ones that weren't able to do either died, of course. By either burning to death or if they got lucky enough and the shuriken inside the flames hit a critical area then they died a much more painless death.

The survivors instantly retaliated by firing a Grand Fireball straight at Naruto from all sides. "Fuuiton: Wind Barrier" said Naruto. Wind swirled all around him and blocked all the fireballs. However Naruto didn't stop there, "Dokumori: Poison Cloud." (A/N: Dokumori is what that final fantasy website said)

The wind barrier suddenly changed color to green and Naruto made the wind from the barrier move outward in circular motion around himself; consequently spreading out the poison as it went. (A/N: in Poison Cloud, Naruto can use ANY poison)

Naruto had used a high level poison that need only touch the skin to take effect. Inhaling it causes dizziness and disorientation, but once the poison has sunk into the skin, which is after about two minutes, the person dies. Most of the Hyuga just held their breath and thought that they were safe, some however did actually activate their Kaiten fully blocking the poison.

During the spread of the poison Naruto had made enough Kage Bushin to match all his opponents and instantly attacked them. The clones that were fighting infected Hyuga, just fought to pull time and waited until their opponent died. However the ones that were fighting the smarter Hyuga all used Cobra Strike, a poison attack where the poison was concentrated in the hands and/or claws. If the opponent was hit, death would be almost instantaneous; since it was cobra venom.

What Naruto's opponents didn't know was that the clones, for the most part, were merely a distraction so that Naruto could escape. The fact that most of Naruto's enemies either died or were in critical condition didn't bother Naruto the least bit as long as he could get out of there. When Naruto saw his chance for an escape, he instantly took it and made a dash for the wall of the manor. As he was going to jump over, two guards tried to stop him, but fell dead as Naruto flew by them at an insane speed.

Jiraiya had heard the alarm and was closing in on the Hyuga Manor along with at least a dozen ANBU and regular jounin, when he just barely noticed a black figure running at top speed toward the western gate. Figuring that that must be the intruder, he quickly changed direction to chase him.

Naruto raced through the village and the gates were soon within his sight; there were at least 10 guards compared to the usual 3. He knew that it would be a long battle if he tried getting out the conventional way, so he jumped down from the rooftops and unto the ground. As he continued running on the ground, he did several hands seals and said, "Doton: Ground Reaper no Jutsu."

The ground that Naruto had just ran on was lifted up with each passing step, "Doton Condense" whispered Naruto. The newly raised ground behind Naruto condensed itself into a boulder, Naruto kept up these two jutsus until the boulder became about the size of a small house. He then attached as many chakra strings as he could to the boulder and yanked on them with full force, "Boulder Strike" he yelled and flung the enormous mass straight at the gate.

Not surprisingly the gate and most of the wall around it, broke as soon as the boulder had collided with it. The explosion, that resulted, had caused all the guard ninjas to pass out and Naruto found that he now had a straight unguarded path laid out in front of him. '_Once I'm out the gate it's over…'_ thought Naruto contently as he kept up his speed even once outside the village.

A little over a mile outside the village Naruto stopped, sensing a familiar presence, "Itachi-onii-chan…"

"I take it it's done?" he asked.

Naruto turned around to find those two familiar crimson eyes staring at him, "yes," answered Naruto in a cold tone, "there were complications, but that's usual."

"Yeah… I heard the explosion from here…" said Itachi, Naruto snorted. "Anyway, you get quota?" asked Itachi.

"Even more," answered Naruto talking off his hat and running his hand through his hair, "I got the younger of the Main House heirs."

"Could have gotten both…" replied Itachi in a questioning tone, while handing Naruto his Akatsuki cloak.

Naruto put it on, but did not answer as he turned his head sideways and sniffed the air. "We should get out of here…" he said quickly. '_Damn it! I thought I managed to avoid pursuit… and why of all people does it have to be HIM?'_

"You're not going anywhere!" came a voice from behind Naruto.

"Let's go," said Naruto, "we can out run him."

"What are you doing back here after five years and in his company?" Jiraiya continued questioning. '_And why the Akatsuki cloak?'_ mentally questioned Jiraiya.

"Isn't it obvious… Ero-Sennin?" replied Naruto coldly with a side-ways glare at Jiraiya.

'_Could it be?'_ wondered Jiraiya, '_have our worst fears come true?'_

"Go Naruto!" ordered Itachi, "I'll take care of him."

"What? No, it's my mess I'll clean it up" protested Naruto.

"Go! You're battle worn, you won't be able to handle him," reasoned Itachi in a commanding tone.

Leaning his head to Naruto's ear he whispered, "deliver the evidence to the Akatsuki and we'll meet up at our usual hotel."

"Fine," reluctantly agreed Naruto, then put his hand on Itachi's shoulder and said just loud enough for Jiraiya to hear, "make it back safe, Itachi-onii-chan." Jiraiya's eyes widened at the way Naruto addressed Itachi.

Naruto gave a last glare at Jiraiya and disappeared into the forest. Jiraiya tried to follow, but was stopped by Itachi, "your fight is with me!" Jiraiya grimaced a little but seeing as there was no other way, got into a fighting stance.

* * *

A/N:  
1) for clarity: there are 10 clan leaders and one main house leader.  
2) i completely forgot about hinata's blushing, until after everything was written...  
3) naruto is able to do Shadow Step w/o seals, but can only get 1/2 of the max distance at best.  
4) i made naruto into a cold heartless bastard didnt i...? [i'll explain more about that later... 3yrs later in story time to be exact (a little spoiler there for ya)] 

next chapter: Jiraiya vs Itachi (dun dun dun)


	12. Resolution

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately). I do own all of my own characters.

Thank you to all my reviewers!!! you ppl r so nice :-)

"blah" = speech  
'_blah'_ = thoughts

**Pyr00tje** - the hyuga heirs didnt HAVE to be killed. why naruto did kill one will be explained later on.

**Crutches** - she would... but not in this story

**Dragon Noir **- level comparisons, naruto is about itachi's (maybe a little lower)

**Kagami** - dont worry naruto's not all coldhearted; or at least not TO all. i know there are only 5 elements, but i like making up stuff... (in a future story i will head ur advice though)

**animelvr4evr** - i hope u realise i cant honor both requsts =)

**Sirus183 **- half of the hyuga are dead, her father is dead; so there's really no one to punish hinata. plus she's the head of the main family now.

**Rurikat** - yes i will reveal y itachi massacred his family, but WAY later in the story.

procrastination and laziness arent a good mix are they? well thats what i seem to have right now... so sry for the late update.

* * *

Chapter 12 – Resolution

Itachi and Jiraiya stood in a forest clearing glaring at each other. Itachi already had his sharingan activated and was carefully watching the Sannin's movements. The wind gently blew by them fluttering their clothes slightly.

'_This will be a difficult fight,'_ mused Jiraiya, '_almost any jutsu that I do he can copy.'_

Suddenly Jiraiya took out three shuriken, out of nowhere, and threw them at Itachi. Itachi instantly countered with three of his own. Without a moments hesitation he performed several hand seals and fired a few fireballs at Jiraiya not having even said the name of the jutsu.

Jiraiya jumped sideways to avoid the projectiles and started several hand seals of his own, but was shocked when he looked back at the fireballs; they were still coming straight at him. He stopped his jutsu halfway through and leaped sideways once again, this time however not leaping as far and preparing a barrier jutsu. Once he landed, he slammed his palms on the ground and said, "Doton: Earth Wall." The fireballs were successfully blocked, but Itachi was nowhere in sight.

'_Shit! He used a tracking Housenka to distract me and hide himself.'_ Just as Jiraiya thought that he sensed a presence behind him and just barely managed to avoid a kick to the head.

Itachi then followed up with a spin kick which Jiraiya easily blocked and punched Itachi in the stomach. As soon as that happened though, Jiraiya noticed something wrong, '_his chakra patterns are abnormal. It's like a jutsu being concentrated within his body… Oh shit!'_ Jiraiya could not jump away fast enough before the clone exploded.

He was sent flying backwards several dozen yards and finally crashed hard into a tree. '_I should have noticed that his taijutsu speed wasn't good at all,'_ Jiraiya scolded himself for making such an error. Looking up he saw Itachi standing behind the crater left by the explosion.

"Jiraiya, it seems your skills have dulled," said Itachi; Jiraiya scowled. "Here I was, expecting a challenge when facing one of the Legendary Sannin. Maybe I should have let Naruto fight you."

"You bastards kidnapped him after he left the safety of the Leaf, didn't you?" asked Jiraiya in a vicious tone.

"Kidnapped?" questioned Itachi, "and safety?" he sneered.

"No, Naruto came with us willingly," Itachi paused for effect, "poor kid, he was completely hounded by you assholes."

"BULLSHIT!" yelled Jiraiya. "He would NEVER come with you! You must have brainwashed him with your Mangekyou Sharingan and that's why he's acting like this."

"Like how? Killing the people of, as he says, 'his long lost village'?" Itachi continued coldly. "He's not the same naïve little kid you once knew. He could never have reached the level he is today by staying in that god forsaken village." Jiraiya's look became even angrier.

"What? Unhappy? Mad, that you had Naruto's potential, but you threw it away?" Itachi said coldly. Jiraiya still could not find any words to reply with. "We picked him up and developed him, to the point where he can develop himself."

"He is a good fighter," mumbled Jiraiya in agreement thinking back to the jounin exam.

"Yea… he's a good protégé, no?" asked Itachi with the slightest bit of amusement.

"He'll NEVER be anything like you!" said Jiraiya forcefully and instantly stood up.

Itachi gazed coldly at Jiraiya, "such confidence, for someone who knows nothing about him."

Jiraiya clenched his fist, "you think you know anything? I bet he hates being in the Akatsuki and working with such cold-blooded murderers as yourself."

"Hate us?" Itachi actually chuckled at this, "why would he hate people that actually pay attention to him? That actually care whether he's there or not, not like YOUR village!" Jiraiya was now thoroughly pissed off. While some people would say that it was very stupid of Itachi to anger a Sannin, Itachi knew that if a shinobi lost their cool they would lose the battle.

"You see he likes us for actually caring about him… But about the protégé thing, no he has a different path in life… I'm sure of it," said Itachi, his voice returning to its seemingly natural coldness, in anticipation of battle.

Itachi then lightly touched the tree to his left, '_Dokumori: Poison Vines'_ thought Itachi as he skillfully directed them to enclose the Sannin's legs. Jiraiya however was not caught in this trap and jumped up to avoid the vines, but not high enough. Itachi immediately saw this opening and had the vines release their poison, since the poison is naturally shot upwards.

Jiraiya saw the cloud of poison rising up towards him, "Fuuiton: Wind Slash" whispered Jiraiya and directed the wind at the poison cloud; in an instant the poison was dispersed. Itachi, meanwhile, had already thrown two shuriken at Jiraiya and whispered, "Kage Shuriken no Jutsu." Jiraiya barely had time to notice and react before the barrage of shuriken had reached him. '_Shit, I can't keep fighting on the defensive,'_ thought Jiraiya as he realized that he was still right next to the tree and hence used it to push himself out of harms way.

Itachi decided to attack him while he was still in mid-air, "Fuuiton: Wind Slash" he whispered and fired off a wave of wind. Jiraiya instantly saw what Itachi was doing and did his own hand seals preparing a counter-attack, "Fuuiton: Wind Tunnel" said Jiraiya. Just as Jiraiya had predicted when the two attacks clashed, his was more powerful and was able to rip through the Wind Slash and continue onward to Itachi.

As soon as Itachi saw Jiraiya do the Wing Tunnel, he knew that his attack would be less powerful and instantly prepared a block for the upcoming attack. However Itachi's attack did manage to significantly reduce the Wind Tunnel's power and because of this Itachi simply made a relatively weak Earth Wall that easily stopped Jiraiya's attack.

Before the wind attack was even completely stopped Jiraiya attacked with a spin kick aimed at Itachi's head. Itachi dodged, but did not have time to counter as a barrage of punches and kicks was thrown at him at an incredible speed. Itachi saw that he was being forced on the defensive, '_this won't do…'_ he thought simply. Itachi, then blocked an attack with his forearm and at the same time formed his hands into a single hand seal, '_Split'_ thought Itachi and jumped to the side, leaving his Kage Bushin to hold off Jiraiya.

Itachi quickly made a half dozen hand seals and put his fingers to his lips, "Katon: Karyuu Endan" whispered Itachi and fired it straight at the still fighting Sannin. Jiraiya had of course noticed when Itachi jumped to the side, and had been prepared for some sort of attack from the side, but did know whether or not the Itachi in front of him was a clone or not. Still he decided not to take any chances, "Doton: Spiked Earth Barrier" said Jiraiya and a wall of earth surrounded the Toad Sannin on each side preventing the Karyuu Endan from penetrating and also damaging Itachi's clone when it attacked because of the spikes on the outside of the barrier.

Itachi did a head seal and slammed his palm into the ground, "Doton: Spike" he whispered. Jiraiya did feel something coming up from underneath him, but it was too late the Spike had already been formed and thrust upwards straight at the Sannin. Jiraiya managed to avoid a hit to a critical area by jumping up and out of his barrier, but the damage was still dealt. Once Jiraiya landed outside the now crumpling barrier he felt a surge of pain in his left leg, '_Damn! This is a pretty deep gash he put in my left shin.'_

Itachi saw that his opponent was injured such that his mobility and speed are affected and decided to attack him using taijutsu. Jiraiya saw the Uchiha charging him, '_I can't handle this alone…'_ Jiraiya bit his thumb, did a few quick seals and whispered "Kuchiyose no Jutsu." In a cloud of smoke a toad, about two times bigger than Jiraiya with two katanas strapped to his back, appeared and easily deflected Itachi's attack throwing him back hard in a tree. Itachi was slightly fazed by the rather large toad that had suddenly appeared, '_times like this make me regret not getting a summoning,'_ he thought.

The toad drew its two katanas and stood in a battle position right in front of Jiraiya. Suddenly the toad leaped forward swinging his katana at Itachi, who managed to dodge to the side. But only to get a hard kick his the abdomen by Jiraiya and then a consecutive elbow to the back, knocking him down towards the ground. However Itachi managed to land on his arms and pushed off right before a sword slash came down and almost chopped him in half. Jiraiya instantly made a clone to attack Itachi from the back, while he did several hand seals and put his fingers to his lips "Katon: Karyuu Endan" he whispered and then breathed out a great steady stream of fire.

Itachi was busy fighting with Jiraiya's clone and toad, when he suddenly sensed a jutsu being prepared behind him. Turning back slightly he was the Karyuu Endan heading straight towards him, he made a hand seal and went to dodge, but caught a sword slash straight across his abdomen. '_Shit! At least I got him back…_' Jiraiya didn't notice Itachi's clone until it successfully stabbed him in the back with a kunai. Jiraiya had of course retaliated and destroyed the clone, but had almost lost sight of the real Itachi, however with his senses heightened and the fact that Itachi was heavily injured now, he sensed him sneaking up from behind. Before Itachi could even begin to attack, both Jiraiya and his toad attacked him from opposite sides. Itachi instantly went from attacking to defending, but found himself heavily hindered by his wound and could not defend everything, letting through Jiraiya's kunai, which went deep into his right shoulder.

Itachi tried to put up an Earth Barrier, but found that his right arm now hung useless; jutsus were no longer a possibility. Jiraiya had of course noticed this and leaving a clone in his place went underground. "Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu," [Inner Decapitation] Itachi tried to jump away, but because of his injuries he wasn't fast enough and was caught by Jiraiya and pulled straight down into the ground. As soon as Jiraiya had him trapped underground, he stuck a kunai straight through Itachi's heart.

Blood poured out of Itachi's mouth and images flashed before his eyes. Images of both Naruto and Sasuke, '_my two brothers…'_ thought Itachi, '_only one… knows the truth… he will set things straight…'_ And with that last though the great Missing-nin died, his eyes finally releasing the sharingan.

Jiraiya could barely dig himself out of the ground before collapsing of exhaustion right beside Itachi. '_Used up too chakra… need to sleep…'_ with that the toad disappeared and Jiraiya fell into unconsciousness.

)))))**Konoha**(((((

Next day in the Leaf Village all the ninja were on high alert, security was tightened and the village was on lock down, such that no one could enter or leave the village. ANBU were still assessing the extent of the damage left by the Hyuga assassination the night before. The Godaime paused the Jounin Exam and called a meeting to discuss last night's occurrences. At the meeting were present Kakashi, Gai, Asuma, Kurenai, a representative of the Hyuga, and several ANBU.

Tsunade banged her fist on the table, "where the hell is Jiraiya?" she roared.

"We still have people looking for him Hokage-sama," answered the ANBU captain, "however the last time I saw him we were both running towards the Hyuga Manor."

"But he never showed up, is that right?"

"Yes, one moment he's right next to me the next he's gone. When we arrived at the Hyuga Manor we found out that the assassin had escaped, so maybe Jiraiya had followed him."

"We'll see when he's finally found…" said Tsunade in a low voice. "Oh well we're starting without him, how are the injured?" she inquired.

"Tsunade-sama, all the injured shinobi have been hospitalized and most of them are expected to pull through just fine," informed a medic-nin of the ANBU.

"Thank you," answered Tsunade. The medic-nin bowed slightly and sat down.

"Damage report! What the hell happened last night Hyuga!?" inquired Tsunade of the Hyuga representative.

"It seems an assassin was able to avoid security and get into the Hyuga Manor…" the Hyuga started explaining but was cut off by Tsunade.

"Tell us something we don't know!" she said forcefully.

"The assassin managed to kill 5 clan leaders as well as Hyuga Hiashi, the Main House leader, and his youngest daughter Hyuga Hanabi." Almost everyone in the room gasped, to be able to kill the leader of the most powerful clan in the Leaf is a feat in itself, but to kill 5 more clan leaders that is really something. The Hyuga rep went on to explain that those are the prominent figures that were killed, but apart from them the assassin also took out approximately two-dozen other Hyuga. He also mentioned that Hyuga Hinata is now in the hospital, the exact reasons being unknown to him.

The medic-nin caught Tsunade staring at her and decided to speak up, "Hyuga Hinata will be fine, she seemed to have been under the effect of a knock out poison. She should wake up later today."

'_Poison?' _thought Tsunade, '_this is weird, and why would she be the only one affected?'_

"Didn't the assassin use poison when fighting with the Hyuga?" asked Asuma.

"Yes, however that poison was a lot more dangerous and killed its victims," replied the ANBU captain.

'_I think Hinata will be able to tell us a lot when she wakes up,'_ mused Tsunade.

"Anyone make any kind of ID on the assassin?" asked Kakashi.

"No…" the ANBU captain began but was cut off by the door opening. Everyone turned to see a limping Hyuga being led into the room and carefully set down into a chair.

"Who is this?" inquired Tsunade.

"A survivor of the attack, Hokage-sama," said the person who brought him and excused himself saying that there were many patients he still had to tend to.

Turning back to the new arrival Tsunade asked him to fill everyone in on what happened.

"At around midnight the alarm was sounded and I instantly jumped out of bed, got dressed and went out to find out what was wrong. After several minutes I heard a commotion in the middle of the compound and ran there to find my fellow brethren fighting with the assassin."

Tsunade interrupted him here for a question, "how many people was the assassin fighting with?"

"I'd say about 20 people," answered the Hyuga, several people around the room raised their eyebrows. "Anyway," he continued with his story, "when I got there the assassin was doing some sort of Katon Jutsu that shot fireballs in all directions. After the assassin's attack was over, I jumped into battle…" he recounted the entire battle like that. The last thing he saw was the assassin running towards the wall and getting intercepted by two guards.

"What happened to the two guards?" asked Tsunade.

"They were k-killed, Hokage-sama," said the Hyuga rep somewhat uncertainly.

Tsunade looked at him questioningly and asked, "How did they die?"

"They had their throats ripped out," replied the ANBU captain, "also… judging by the wound it looks like it was done with claws."

"You're telling me that the assassin had claws?" asked Tsunade.

"Yes, I see no other explanation. Unless the assassin did a summoning, but it doesn't seem that there was enough time," explained the ANBU captain.

"Can you tell me anything else about the assassin, height, hair color, eye color, any distinguishing features?" questioned Tsunade.

"He's about 5 and a half feet tall, blue eyes, couldn't see his hair since it was hidden under a hat and I guess claws would be a pretty distinguishing feature," replied the Hyuga.

"Hmm… so we know nothing about him," said Tsunade. The blue eyes made her think of Naruto, but she shrugged off that thought.

"Actually come to think of it…" said the Hyuga, "he looked very much like the Grass-nin from the jounin exam." A few heads snapped up at that comment.

"Now that you mention it," said Asuma, "we haven't been able to locate that guy anywhere."

"Damn it we should have noticed that he was definitely a much higher level," said Tsunade, "especially after what happened to Sasuke."

)))))**Forest Outside Konoha**(((((

While the meeting was going on Jiraiya finally started waking up, '_Where the hell am I?'_ Jiraiya sat up and caught sight of the still buried Itachi and all the events of the previous night came back to him in a rush of images. '_That's right I fought with Itachi last night and managed to kill him.'_ Then another event came back to him, "Naruto… how could you go to the Akatsuki?" said Jiraiya sadly. "Anyway I need to get back to the Leaf, and relay my current information."

Jiraiya went to stand, but almost fell back down in pain from his left shin. After several minutes he finally managed to get up and hobbled over to where Itachi was buried. Jiraiya then ripped him out of the ground, threw the body on his shoulder and started the long walk back to Konoha.

)))))**Back in Tsunade's Office**(((((

"If I may inquire?" asked Kakashi, "What did happen to my student?"

"His condition seems to have stabilized late last night, but we don't know when he will wake up," answered Tsunade.

"But what did that Grass-nin do to him?" asked Gai.

"It was some sort of Doujutsu. From the looks of it, it's similar to the Tsukuyomi of the Mangekyou," Kakashi's eye widened at this. "Except somehow Sasuke's opponent also managed to inflict not only mental, but physical wounds as well," explained Tsunade. "But the scariest thing is that the wounds, kept coming back until his condition stabilized… as if the body was self-inflicting the wounds," Kakashi's normally stoic face showed the slightest bit of worry.

"But how is that possible?" asked Kurenai.

"I don't know. It shouldn't be, even the Mangekyou isn't powerful enough to affect the mind like that," said Tsunade in deep thought.

"Hokage-sama, are you saying that the Grass-nin's Doujutsu is more powerful than the Mangekyou Sharingan?" asked Gai.

"Yes, it would seem that way," said Tsunade, "however he probably cannot copy jutsus like the sharingan can." '_Which is a relief.'_

"Approximately when can we expect Sasuke to wake up?" asked Kakashi.

"I don't know, he seems to have slipped into a coma. So it could be days or it could be months," replied Tsunade. '_Somehow I'm leaning over towards months.'_

Kakashi was shocked, '_Damn it! I didn't prepare him enough.'_ Kakashi sulked down feeling like he betrayed his student. '_Then again who knew he would be fighting such a strong opponent, who could possibly be an assassin.'_

Suddenly the door flew open and an ANBU came in, "Hokage-sama, we have trouble!"

Tsunade jumped up from her seat, "what is it!?" she yelled.

"There have been traps set up throughout the village, but they seem to be made to target the villagers only," explained the ANBU member.

"What do you mean they only target the villagers?" asked the ANBU captain.

"The traps are set up in high density civilian areas, meant to be triggered by simple civilian actions; such as kicking a stone out of the way or yanking on a hanging string," explained the ANBU member.

"The things that a shinobi wouldn't do… " mused Kakashi.

"Exactly," said the ANBU member, "we have managed to disarm several, but six had already been tripped before we were notified. There is a team of ANBU combing the village searching for any more as we speak."

"Have there been any casualties?" asked Tsunade in a serious tone.

The ANBU member looked down not wanting to meet the Tsunade's eyes, "yes Hokage-sama."

"How many?"

"20 dead and at least 30 injured."

"Damn it! Why do innocents have to die?" said Tsunade angrily. "What are the traps like?" she asked.

"They are mostly set to throw kunai, shuriken or throwing knives. Some, however, made a Katon Jutsu come out," explained the ANBU member.

"Why would the assassin be attacking the villagers?" wondered Kurenai. "It makes no sense…"

"It might be as a distraction for us," offered Asuma.

"But why would the assassin want us to distract us **now**, instead of last night?" asked Kakashi.

"Perhaps to throw off pursuit by making us think that he is still in the village," said Gai.

Just then the door swung open and a beaten up Jiraiya came in caring something that looked very much like a body over his shoulder.

"Hello everyone," he greeted.

"Jiraiya is that the assassin?" asked Tsunade.

"Not quite…" replied Jiraiya, "there were some… complications."

"Complications?" Tsunade furrowed her brows. "What sort of complications?"

"The assassin himself got away, but I know who it was and I killed his accomplice," said Jiraiya in a somewhat sad tone. All eyes were now focused on the Toad Sannin in anticipation.

"His accomplice was," at this point he dropped the body on the floor, "Uchiha Itachi."

The absolute shock was evident on everyone's face; even Tsunade could not hide it. They all instantly realized that the assassination was the Akatsuki's doing.

"So then the Akatsuki was behind everything?" asked Kurenai.

"Yes, they were behind a lot more things than we know…" said Jiraiya, "some that we would rather not have happen."

"What do you mean?" asked Gai uncertainly.

"Who is the assassin?" inquired Tsunade.

"The assassin and Itachi's partner, is someone we all know…" Jiraiya paused a little for effect.

"Someone we know?" inquired Kurenai, "Who would join forces with that murderer?"

"You couldn't mean…?" asked Kakashi with a wide-eye.

"Yes, sadly I do mean that," said Jiraiya, "his name is Uzumaki Naruto."

The people that had just somewhat recovered from seeing Uchiha Itachi dead were thrown back into that state of complete and utter shock after hearing this.

"Then the Akatsuki has… oh god…" said Kakashi.

The implications were obvious, the Akatsuki now had the power of the Kyuubi at their disposal. It also didn't seem like Naruto cared much for the Leaf village anymore, instead he now seemed to be a ruthless killer.

"Naruto wasn't just the assassin, we also saw him before this incident. He was pretending to be the Grass-nin during the jounin exam," said Jiraiya. "Although that was probably a cover to be able to get into the village."

"We have no chance of getting him back now, do we?" asked Kakashi.

"No, he's a Class S Missing-nin now…" said Tsunade, "and he's also a part of the most dangerous organization in the world."

"Yes and it seems that he…" Jiraiya trailed off seemingly unable to finish his thought.

"What? He's what?" asked Tsunade.

"He… I got the impression that he joined it willingly…" said Jiraiya reluctantly.

"WHAT!?" yelled Tsunade. "Impossible! Why would he ever do that?"

"Well, it seems that the Akatsuki took care of him and accepted him a lot more than the people of this village," explained Jiraiya. "And for someone like him, well that's really what he wanted from life."

"The people…" mused Kakashi. "It makes sense…"

"Huh? What makes sense?" asked Asuma.

"The traps left in the village… they weren't for distraction, they were for revenge," said Kakashi in a cold tone.

"What traps?" asked Jiraiya.

He was explained about the traps found all over the village that were aimed at harming only civilians.

"Hmm… yea that would probably have to be him. He even glared at me when I simply tried to talk to him and…" said Jiraiya, but trailed off again as he remembered what Naruto called Itachi.

"And what?" asked Tsunade.

"Nothing… there just seemed to be a lot of hater in his eyes," said Jiraiya lost in thought.

"Damn in Jiraiya! Tell me exactly what happened!" roared Tsunade.

Jiraiya cringed a little then reluctantly continued, "well… it's about how Naruto referred to Itachi before they parted." Seeing that everyone was confused and that Tsunade seemed to be getting even angrier Jiraiya decided not to test her patience, "he called Itachi 'onii-chan.'"

"What?" said Kakashi. "Naruto looks up to Itachi **that** much?"

"Could be," answered Jiraiya plainly.

"Then it is possible that he joined willingly," mused Kurenai.

"Well then lets hope that Naruto isn't like Itachi's real brother," said Gai. "Since he's bound to find out what Jiraiya did to Itachi."

"This is indeed a serious problem, but for now he's gone and will probably not come back here for some time," said Tsunade. "So we have to focus on the things at hand and that it rebuilding."

"Also we can't leave this subject of the assassin in ambiguity for the rest of the village," said Tsunade.

"But we cannot tell them that the assassin simply got away," countered Gai.

"No. That is why I propose that we reveal Itachi to be the assassin," said Tsunade.

"And lie to the village?" protested the Hyuga rep.

"Not necessarily," explained Tsunade, "we did kill one dangerous Missing-nin and as Jiraiya said Itachi was Naruto's accomplice. Also the fact that Itachi was apprehended should make the village happy."

Several people were still reluctant, but understood that the village's reputation would be affected greatly if they said that the assassin had escaped. So everyone agreed with the Hokage and swore to keep this a secret. After that matter was done, the talks shifted on to the subject of the reconstruction and strengthening of Konoha. Though they all knew that there would be other meetings when they would talk about the issue with Naruto and the Akatsuki.

)))))**With Naruto**(((((

Meanwhile, Naruto was making his way toward the Mountain Country or more specifically the Akatsuki headquarters. He, of course, did not travel at the insane pace that he, Itachi and Kisame had last time they were close to the Leaf, but he still went fast enough so that he was at least a day's time ahead of any pursuers. Halfway to the border Naruto decided to camp out in the woods and get some shut eye, even though it was the middle of the day. Naruto had actually always preferred to travel by night, it somehow made him feel more comfortable.

'_Influence of the Kyuubi no doubt,'_ thought Naruto with a smirk. He then looked at the rabbit that was roasting on the fire, '_so nice of him to teach me to summon foxes, they can actually hunt for you. Toads are nice you can use them on land and water. But Itachi was right, better to have a variety to choose from.'_ Naruto then pulled up his left sleeve and looked at his bandaged arm, '_this one isn't something to be using just for the hell of it… I doubt even Itachi knows exactly what this is…'_ Naruto's thoughts trailed off as he smelled that his rabbit was done cooking. After lunch Naruto went to sleep leaving a guard-fox around just in case.

He woke up in the beginning of the night and immediately set off again and managed to cross the border safely before dawn. Knowing that he was know on much safer ground, he slowed down a little and decided to stop at a hotel in the nearest city, which just happened to be the same one he had been in five years ago. '_This trip brings back so many memories,'_ mused Naruto.

After a day of rest, Naruto pressed onwards into the mountains and arrived at the Akatsuki headquarters by the end of the day. He quickly made his way inside and asked for a session with the leaders. He didn't wait long at all and was soon called into the conference room.

"Mission Accomplished Sir!" said Naruto handing over the backpack with the heads to Roeto. (A/N: in case you forgot, Roeto – leader; Kane – 2nd in command; Hajeko – 3rd in command)

Roeto opened the backpack, took out all the heads and looked at them. He gave Naruto an approving nod, "you even exceeded quota?" it was somewhere between a question and a statement.

"Yes," simply answered Naruto.

"How was the mission?" wondered Kane.

"It had its complications, but I worked through them," answered Naruto. '_Damn I never did like these people. It sometimes seems like they want to rip the Kyuubi's power out of me.'_

"Yes, but such is life isn't it?" said Roeto coldly. Naruto merely nodded slightly. Roeto then gave Hajeko the signal to pay Naruto.

"Alright, as was promised 300,000 yen for the quota or 50,000 per head," said Hajeko giving Naruto the money in a suitcase. Naruto continued looking at him intently.

"Give him 100,000 for the extra head," said Roeto.

"What? Isn't that a bit too much?" asked Hajeko.

"No, not for an heir of the Main House it isn't," continued Roeto.

"Alright," agreed Hajeko and gave Naruto another small suitcase.

Naruto bowed and turned to leave, "Wait Naruto," said Kane. Naruto promptly turned around and looked at Kane. "You will be hunted within the next few months, so while you have this next week free you need to return before its finish and we will find you a place to lie low for a bit."

Naruto nodded in understanding, bowed again and left. He went to his room, put all the money in one large bag and prepared to leave for the hotel where Itachi should be waiting, but suddenly remembered what time it was and decided to spend the night here. '_Better to stay where there is a nice bed and shower,'_ thought Naruto yawning.

He left first thing the next morning, wanting to get to the Rain Country within two days. During his journey he thought, '_Itachi is already waiting for me,_' and not wanting to keep his onii-chan waiting Naruto increased his pace a little bit.

* * *

A/N:  
1) sorry to all those ppl that wanted itachi to stay alive, but this must happen for the story to continue.  
2) and to everyone out there that's wondering if naruto's luck is ever going to change? yes it is!  
3) judging by the reviews no one seems to know where i'm taking the story... which is good i can surprise you :-)  
4) I seem to be having trouble making up new jutsu names right now... so i'm sorry if they sound lame. 


	13. Aftermath

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately). I do own all of my own characters.

Thank you to all my reviewers!!! you ppl r so nice :-)

"blah" = speech  
'_blah'_ = thoughts

Damn I didn't think EVERYONE would be sad that Itachi died.

**Anonymous **- Resolution does not mean end.

**clicke **- I was focusing more on the battle not on how they were saying the jutsus.

**Peter Kim **- Gaara will appear in the story. (not sure yet whether it will be for a long or short time) Temari as kazekage... i'll consider that angle.  
Konohamaru will also be in the story; he'll run into Naruto at... oh let's say a wrong place and a wrong time.

**sephynarutocloud **- thank you, but that's just too flattering

**TimeShifter16 **- I'd love to give u a straight answer, but life doesn't work that way (and i dont want to spoil the story). By 'good' do u mean return to the Leaf in peace? or just not kill people for the hell of it? (either way you'll have to read the story and see)

**OpposingForce **- Calm down w/ the blood (I'll make a darker bloodier fic once I'm finished w/ this one). Don't get ur hopes up on the romance.

**Simara **- u know ur the only one that noticed the Sasuke angle to this whole thing. I'll talk about that this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 13 – Aftermath

Naruto had made it to the Rain Country within several days and was now walking toward the town where he was supposed to meet up with Itachi; a smile naturally formed on Naruto's face. '_The Rain Country is really beautiful when it's not raining,'_ thought Naruto as he was purposely taking his time getting to the hotel. Never the less, Naruto soon arrived at the hotel and quickly found out which room 'Ichita,' Itachi's cover name, was staying in. Naruto easily found the key that was hidden by genjutsu above the door and calmly walked in.

Once inside the room Naruto was a little surprised when he didn't feel anyone's presence, but shrugged it off thinking that Itachi must have gone somewhere. He took off his jacket and shoes and proceeded into room, '_well that's weird,'_ thought Naruto as he looked around, '_none of his stuff is here.'_

The hotel room, except for the usual hotel stuff, was completely empty. After a bit of looking around his eyes finally landed on the only one foreign object in the entire room, a scroll that was lying on top of the table. He walked over to it and looked at it, "From: Itachi; To: Naruto" it read. '_Couldn't he just leave a simple note telling me where he is?'_ mused Naruto. He tried to open the scroll, but found that it wouldn't even budge, then shook his head slightly and bit his thumb, '_always the extra careful one Itachi,'_ chuckled Naruto as he ran his bleeding thumb over the edge of the scroll. Naruto then unrolled the scroll and began reading.

Dear Naruto,

I would usually lead you on a little goose chase before telling you exactly what I had in mind, but this time around I'm going to get straight to the point. If you are reading this, then I am dead. ['_What!?' _thought Naruto with chills running down his spine.]

I had a feeling, a precursor, that this latest mission would be my last. I hoped of course that I was wrong, but just in case I took the time to write this scroll to you. You must be asking yourself 'how did Itachi die?' well I must have died in battle, as is suitable for warriors such as ourselves. I do not regret my life and I do not regret my death, so I must ask you not to try and avenge my death, if the person was able to kill me then he will also be able to kill you. ['_It must have been that bastard Jiraiya!'_ growled Naruto.] One thing I don't want you to become is an avenger. ["I'm not sure if I can honor that, Itachi," mumbled Naruto.]

While on the avenger subject, I wasn't able to accomplish much with Sasuke, so ask I must ask a favor: could you please make sure that he understands everything?

Now I have to come clean about something I have kept hidden from even you, Kisame never died; in fact he is alive and well. ['_Eh?_'] During that mission I helped him stage his own death. The reason he did it was because he was tired of the Akatsuki, and also because he wanted to get away from everything in the ninja world; basically he wanted to retire I guess. Forgive me for not telling you, but I thought it best that no one knows the truth; after all the more people that know a secret the less of a secret it becomes. If you ever want to get in contact with him, he said he would be on an island outside of the Water Country, but he demanded that we don't attract unnecessary attention; I'm sure you understand. ['_Of course.'_]

Moving on, after what you just did to the Leaf you're gonna need some desolate place to pass the time. I happen to own a house in the Snow Country that I am leaving to you, take care of the place. ['_To me?_' asked Naruto incredulously.] Further on in the scroll there will be a map and directions for getting there. You should spend at least six months hiding out. Don't worry no one knows that it's there except for me and the guy who build it, but I already got rid of that liability. ["Why am I not surprised?" said Naruto with a smirk.]

Also, about the Akatsuki I have a premonition that it's not going to last very long. If I hadn't died on this mission I would have left that organization soon after. I realize that you have only stayed in the Akatsuki because of me, so now that those binds are broken you can be free. So just disappear from the chaos of the world for several months.

Whatever I own I pass on to you, do with it as you please, but always take care. Goodbye Uzumaki Naruto, I wish you the best of luck in your future, but you don't need it.

Forever honorable,  
Your Onii-chan  
Itachi  
(A/N: it wouldn't let me put it on the right hand side)

PS: Thank you beforehand for the favor.

Naruto's eyes watered up while reading Itachi's last words. '_Onii-chan isn't coming back…'_ and for the first time in a decade Naruto openly cried, holding the scroll close to his chest. After several minutes he stopped crying and wiped his eyes and cheeks free of tears.

"I'm sorry onii-chan, but I can't let your death go unpunished. Jiraiya will pay for what he has done and he will pay dearly," said Naruto in an ominous tone. '_I still can't believe this is real,'_ mused Naruto while unrolling the scroll further, '_it just seems like a some sort of bad dream; a nightmare. But sadly I must face the fact that he's not here anymore and that I'm on my own. But I WILL get my revenge on Jiraiya,'_ vowed Naruto. However he also realized that there was no way he could go back to the Leaf right now, not after what had happened. "Their security right now will be very high. So, no I'll wait it out… just like Itachi wrote I need to disappear and also if Jiraiya was able to beat Itachi then I wouldn't stand a chance against him," mused Naruto trying to decide on his next course of action.

"Hmm… to think that he was able to keep the secret of Kisame's death or rather life a secret from me,' said Naruto in a more cheerful tone. "Nice to know that I haven't lost everyone…" Naruto had now come across the map that Itachi left him. '_So his house is in the far north, well the farther from civilization the better right now. Except that I'm gonna have to carry A LOT of food there.'_ Naruto chuckled at the mental image of himself carrying a mountain of food, most of it being ramen. "This is actually perfect, I'll be able to train there in complete privacy, then after a few months I'll come back and kill that prevented bastard of Sennin."

He then put away the scroll into his pocket and walked out of the hotel room. Not even bothering to check out of the hotel, Naruto went to the nearest restaurant had lunch and immediately afterwards left for the Snow Country.

'_Just my luck, I had to come here during the early winter,'_ Naruto cursed his luck as he looked over the snow-covered fields and mountains. "I gotta say though this country really is beautiful." Naruto was now half way into the Snow Country and was now village hoping since he **really** didn't want to camp outside. This of course slowed his progress, but he didn't mind it too much, especially since he was now nearing his destination. Naruto was eating dinner at the local pub as he looked at his newly acquired map of the Snow Country and compared it to Itachi's map, '_from the looks of it I have to go tangent to the main road about a half a mile out of town and cross this wilderness here. Then… I guess I'll just see it… hopefully.'_

The next morning Naruto filled his backpack and bag with food and started his slow track through the forest. The forest soon stopped and instead tuned into a completely white snow-covered field, after which Naruto could clearly see his route taking him up a mountain. '_At least I can walk on top of the snow instead of falling through it and climbing will be easier with chakra.'_ After a ten minutes break Naruto resumed his journey and after about six hours was up on the mountain.

"WOW! This is a killer view," said Naruto in a dreamy voice, "now let's see if can spot the house." Naruto looked around, but unfortunately everything was covered in snow and it was very hard to decipher one thing from another. "Well by the looks of the map it should be right to the north-east of me. I guess I'll just have to go down that way and see if it become more apparent."

Naruto had to journey almost all the way down the mountain before he finally spotted the chimney sticking out of the snow. Sighing in relied that he had finally found it, Naruto quickly made his way to the house and stood outside looking at it. The house was a lot bigger than Naruto had expected, "Itachi should have said mansion instead of house." Naruto then took out the key that had popped out of the scroll and went inside.

"Whoa, it seems even bigger on the inside than it does on the outside," said Naruto. He dropped his bags near the door and went to look around. First he walked into the living room, it had a large couch, a fireplace and a table with a Go board on top of it. '_Hmm… the house had such a warm atmosphere.'_ Naruto continued looking around the house finding the kitchen, a dining room, three bedrooms each complete with a personal bathroom and shower, and a training room. The training room was however completely bare, '_no way, Itachi would have some weapons at least,'_ thought Naruto and activated his Demon Eyes. He instantly saw through the genjutsu that was placed over the far wall, walking over to it, he easily undid it and revealed a door. Naruto opened it and stepped into a completely dark room.

He fumbled around a bit looking for the light switch, but found it soon enough and was amazed at what he saw inside. There were weapons of all kinds, Naruto could not find one single weapon style missing from the selection, and it even had some that he was unfamiliar with. '_Well I've got my work cut out for me in the weapons department,'_ thought Naruto as he continued observing the room. On the right wall he saw a closet and walked over to it opening it up, inside were many scrolls large and small, several even had 'forbidden' written on them. '_A scroll collection, huh Itachi? I wonder if there are some in here that you didn't teach me already.'_ Naruto picked out a random scroll and looked at the name of the technique, "Walk of Shadows; well I don't know that one." After glancing at half a dozen more scrolls Naruto found that he didn't know a single technique. '_Well more work cut out for me.'_

The sun was quickly setting, so Naruto decided to go to the kitchen make himself dinner and go to bed. Tomorrow he would start training himself. His last thoughts as he drifted off to sleep were of Itachi and his newly found source of training.

)))))**Leaf Village**(((((****

Tsunade was in her office busily working through the mountain of paperwork on her desk. Things had been rough since the Hyuga assassination, the civilians easily bought the lie about Itachi being the assassin, but some of the Hyuga that had survived the attack weren't so willing to believe. The Hokage then had to personally explain it to them and make them swear a blood oath not to tell anyone else. Still most of the Hyuga were unhappy that the Hokage had covered up the incident like that; this of course created tension within the village. However, the now small portion that made up the Main Family was satisfied with the cover up since they did not want the village to know that the heiress had been in love with the assassin and had actually let him into the Hyuga Manor.

Hyuga Hinata, she was a whole other issue just by herself. Completely heart broken over Naruto, she woke up in the hospital thinking that she just passed out during training and then the events of the previous night came flooding back and she thought that she would finally have her happiness, but then the news came. She was told that half of the clan leaders were murdered, along with her father and her sister. She was told to report to the Hokage immediately and once she came there she was told the full story behind the Hyuga assassination, she even found out the true assassin's identity.

She was in an emotional turmoil for a week, she simply could not believe that her 'precious Naruto-kun' could do such a thing. She finally came out of it after a week and said that she was ready to learn her duties as the head of the family, but everyone noticed that she had greatly changed. Gone was the indecisiveness and shyness, and out came the confident independent young woman that her father would have been proud of. But she was not like her father, she still had her sweet side present and because of that did not oppress the branch family and instead kept several of her close friends by her side as advisors. '_I may as well keep the promise Naruto had made to Neji, before the dark side swallowed him up,'_ concluded Hinata. Several of the other clan leaders tried to challenge her, but she shut them up instantaneously and with the kind of force that made the others afraid to even disagree with her on small matters.

It had been six months since that day and bit-by-bit the peace was returning to the Leaf Village, much to the delight of the Hokage. In that amount of time no one had even heard of Naruto, Tsunade understood that he must have gone into hiding and guessed that they probably wouldn't see him for several years to come.

Just then the door burst open loudly and an ANBU ran into the Hokage office, "Hokage-sama, I have some urgent news!" he said panting.

"What is it? What's happened?" said Tsunade jumping up.

"We just received reports from both the Sand and the Stone, that they have successfully raided and taken over the Akatsuki."

"WHAT!?" yelled Tsunade, "Are you serious? How did they even know where to go?"

"Very serious, Hokage-sama. It seems that the Stone were anonymously tipped off about it and had sent two teams to check it out. The strike team was exterminated by a well known Missing-nin from the Stone, but the other team escaped," explained the ANBU member.

"So the Stone and Sand formed an alliance and took down the Akatsuki?" asked Tsunade already knowing the answer.

"That's right, Hokage-sama," confirmed the ANBU.

"Where is the Akatsuki lair?" questioned Tsunade calmly sitting back down.

"In the Mountain Country," he replied. "It seems to have been inside of a mountain, the door of which was concealed by genjutsu."

"Alright I want an ANBU team sent to investigate the Akatsuki lair and try to find information about our own Missing-nin," ordered Tsunade.

"It will be done Hokage-sama," the ANBU bowed and disappeared.

"We might have finally found you Naruto," mused Tsunade, "or at least clues of where you are."

Every single country that had a Missing-nin sent their own teams to investigate. So the Akatsuki lair was crawling with ANBU from all different countries. While this created much tension and apprehension, it also made sure that no corner of the Akatsuki headquarters was left un-searched.

However the search for Naruto had proved futile. The Leaf ANBU found nothing about where the boy could be. There were only mission reports showing what he had done in the past and how well he performed. It seemed that he was the most valuable shinobi to the leaders of the Akatsuki and they were monitoring his growth with a hawk's eye. Judging by the records Naruto had gone into hiding six months ago, but even the Akatsuki had no idea where he went.

Luckily, documents weren't the only source of information. During the attack the leaders, Roeto and Kane, had been killed, but not Hajeko. He had survived and was now under heavy interrogation. The interrogation revealed a lot of information about the members of the Akatsuki. It seemed that there were only two members left, Raiko and Miya. The Akatsuki had concluded that Naruto had left the organization and gone into hiding from both them and the Leaf. So the only remaining team was sent to find him and kill him no less than two weeks ago, but they hadn't reported in since they left.

The Leaf interrogation team found that Naruto had actually come to the Akatsuki willingly and was freely utilizing his power to help their cause. They also uncovered that he had gotten training from a Cloud-nin, Grass-nin, Mist-nin, and of course Itachi. Hajeko was also forced to admit that Naruto was the centerpiece for all their plans. Plans like killing off all the advanced bloodlines to weaken the villages and make them a lot more susceptible to attack. They also uncovered that the Hyuga assassination had only gone through the first phase, there was going to be another attack once things had calmed down.

"So the actual mission only required Naruto to kill the five clan leaders and Hiashi?" questioned Tsunade as she read the report.

"That's right Hokage-sama, the youngest heiress was seen as a bonus in the Akatsuki's eyes and Naruto was well paid for her head," explained Ibiki.

"But why attack only half the Hyuga? Isn't it better to destroy them all at once?" asked Tsunade.

"I asked him the same question; and he said that they wanted to disrupt the flow of the clan by killing off half of the council and the head of the Main Family. But the biggest reason was to show off the Kyuubi's power to the world," replied Ibiki.

"And that they did that well enough," mumbled Tsunade, Ibiki just nodded.

"Well if even the Akatsuki doesn't know where Naruto is then we probably don't even have a chance of finding him," said Tsunade throwing the report down on her desk.

"We don't have to call off the search though," said Ibiki.

"No, no I'm not saying that." countered Tsunade. "It's just that we can't put him on high priority."

"Agreed."

"Alright then, you're dismissed," Ibiki bowed slightly and vanished in a cloud of smoke.

Not a minute later a medic-nin came rushing into Tsunade's office, "Hokage-sama, I have wonderful news!"

"What is it?" asked Tsunade lazily.

"Uchiha Sasuke is awake!" cried the medic-nin.

Tsunade instantly jumped up and quickly made her way to the hospital. There she found a groggy but awake Uchiha, who wondered how long he was out. Before answering Tsunade gave him a check-up and found him in perfect health. '_Physically he's perfectly fine, but how is mentally?'_ she wondered.

"Sasuke, how do you feel?" she asked him.

"Fine," came the monotonous answer. "How long was I out?"

"Six and a half months now," replied Tsunade as if it was nothing.

"WHAT!?" yelled Sasuke. "That damn bastard put me out for that long?"

"Calm down!" ordered Tsunade. "You know who did this to you?"

"Yea, only one person could possible have those eyes," replied Sasuke in a bit calmer tone.

"What eyes?" asked Tsunade.

"Those blood-red eyes with a black slit down the middle," answered Sasuke.

'_The Kyuubi's eyes… so Naruto was posing as the Grass-nin… not that we had much to go against that belief,'_ thought Tsunade. "So you know who you were really fighting against then?"

Sasuke gave her a suspicious look saying, '_so you knew about it too?'_ "yea, I know. I was fighting with Naruto."

"Yes," Tsunade answered sadly. "What technique did he use against you?"

"He called it 'Hell Level 2' but it felt too much like Tsukuyomi," said Sasuke rubbing his temples. "Except instead of him torturing me, it was some demons in hell. It felt like I was being tortured for all the sins in my life, just relentless beating." Sasuke shuddered just remembering and rubbed some of his long healed wounds.

"Huh? How come I have some scars here?" he asked.

"It seems that Naruto's attack somehow made your own body inflict these wounds upon you," answered Tsunade.

"How is that possible?" asked Sasuke in a confused tone, "How can that 'dobe' do that?" Then another thought crossed his mind, "why was Naruto disguised as a Grass-nin?"

"Well he is a Class S Missing-nin after all," said Tsunade, "he can't just come here openly."

"Class S? Since when?" asked Sasuke; Tsunade cursed mentally at that slip of the tongue.

"We'll tell you when you recover fully," she said.

"NO, damn it! Tell me NOW!" he yelled.

Tsunade sighed, "He wasn't actually here for the Jounin Exam. He had an entirely different purpose."

"A different purpose?" wondered Sasuke. "What else could he want?"

"He's changed a lot since we all knew him, Sasuke, he wasn't here for peaceful purposes."

"Did he… attack the village?"

"In a way…" Tsunade then told all him about the Hyuga assassination. Saying that Naruto was Itachi's accomplice in this act.

"Itachi…" Sasuke's sharingan instantly flared up. "Naruto is allied with that bastard," said Sasuke in a low angry tone.

"There's something you should know about Itachi…" said Tsunade calmly; Sasuke narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Itachi was killed right after the assassination."

Sasuke's eyes widened, "What? How did that happen?" he asked.

"Jiraiya killed him after chasing him down on his retreat from the village."

"Damn it! Damn it, he was supposed to be mine!" Sasuke slammed his fist into the bed.

"You should be happy that he is finally gone and focus on more important things," countered Tsunade.

She could easily see that Sasuke was fuming on the inside, '_that damn bastard Jiraiya, how could he take this away from me? It was supposed to be MY revenge, mine and no one else's.'_

Tsunade's face suddenly hardened, "Sasuke, not very many people know that Naruto was also there with Itachi. For political purposes we have to keep that a secret. So now I'm ordering you to never speak about this again. You got that!?" said Tsunade in a commanding forceful tone.

"Yes," said Sasuke somewhat reluctantly, but knew that crossing the Hokage wasn't a smart things to do.

Tsunade stood up and moved to the door, "you are in pretty good physical condition, but still need to stay in the hospital for further tests." Sasuke scoffed at this, "I need to go now and as for you, I order you to stay here! If you disobey there will be harsh punishment!" said Tsunade menacingly. '_That damn spoiled kid, thinks he can do anything…'_ thought Tsunade as she walked out of the hospital and back to her office, '_at least he's finally awake.'_

Sasuke recovered very fast and began training within a week of waking up. Everyone was very happy to see that he was up again, especially Sakura, but she was then saddened when she realized that he had woken even colder than before. He was quickly brought up to speed on what had happened while he was asleep, however he didn't seem much interested. He never did forgive Jiraiya for killing Itachi, but continued training harder and harder for the new goal in his life. '_If Naruto was Itachi's accomplice then he will have to do for my revenge. I will definitely get the Mangekyou Sharingan and show those eyes of his who is the true master in mind torture.'_

)))))**Snow Country**(((((

Meanwhile Naruto had absolutely no idea what was going on in the outside world and didn't care either. He was happily living in Itachi's mansion, '_well now I guess it's my mansion, but I just can't get used that,'_ thought Naruto during one of his training intermissions. The reason for his obliviousness to the outside world was of course his training, he was hell bent on learning all the techniques that were in those scrolls Itachi had saved from his travels.

It turns out that during all his travels Itachi constantly kept a look out for jutsus that he either couldn't copy or ones so powerful that even his sharingan was able to see through. He would then acquire the scrolls for these techniques, often times forcefully, and stash them in that closet. Many of the techniques that Naruto found in there were ninjutsus, but there were a few genjutsus, these were very powerful and neither the byakugan nor the sharingan couldn't see through them.

Naruto did not neglect his physical training and would go for a run up the mountain every morning and night. Soon thought that became too easy and he started venturing farther and farther. During one of these times he found a lake not too far, by his standards, from his house. Since it was winter the lake was completely frozen, except for several places where the ice was thin and Naruto could see some fish swimming under the surface. Naruto instantly decided to melt off a little bit of the ice and catch himself a fish for dinner, '_may as well not come home empty handed,'_ he concluded.

Melting a small portion of the ice was rather easy, but it wasn't nearly enough for Naruto to be able to catch a fish. '_Man I wish I could melt the entire lake…'_ then an idea occurred to him. He had seen a scroll back at the house that would let him make fire appear out of nowhere, but he hadn't paid much attention to it since he didn't have any jutsus that worked like that, '_that could work… a giant fire spreading out from the middle of the lake, all the way out to the edges and melting all the ice. I think I could make that work.'_ Naruto then rushed back to the house to study the scroll intently.

After many tries and several months Naruto had finally created his very own Kinjutsu. He could now make the fire burst out from anywhere he wanted and spread out over as big an area as he wanted. He named the jutsu "Lake of Fire" and would later on work on it to increase its power and spread rate.

Time seems to just fly by when you're busy working on the things you love, and so it happened with Naruto. For him it seemed way too early, but summer had already come. Since the Snow Country doesn't really have spring, the only way you can tell the summer apart is that the snow actually starts melting. '_Nine months of winter and only three months of summer,'_ mused Naruto, '_it is really a remarkable place. But the coming of summer means that I have already been here for nine months. I hadn't planned to stay this long, especially since I have "business" to take care of down south…'_

Naruto decided to stay there until the summer's end and then leave the safety of his house and venture back into the world that he had so successfully disappeared from a nine months ago. Naruto knew that during his re-emergence into the ninja world he would have to avoid the Hidden Villages at all cost and travel under a disguise. A part of him did not want to leave this place, but Naruto knew that he couldn't leave his unfinished business hanging any longer. '_Jiraiya will pay for what he has done and then my mind will finally be able to rest.'_

At the summer's end and before any of the snow storms could roll in, Naruto left the bastion of his mansion and cautiously journeyed into the outside world.

* * *

A/N: A mellower chapter, huh? Well it's the calm after the storm... or is it b4...? I'll leave u to ponder that.

Walk of Shadows... yes Naruto will be using that technique later on.  
Lake of Fire - I thought i'd entertain you ppl and show off one of naruto's self-made kinjutsus.

next chapter: will have a better cliffhanger


	14. Old Enemies, New Friends

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately). I do own all of my own characters.

Thank you to all my reviewers!!! you ppl r so nice :-)

"blah" speech  
'_blah'_ thoughts

**Peter Kim **- After careful consideration I have found a way to use your idea (about Temari). So thank you very much!  
sound -- soon; remaining members -- u'll find out in a bit.

**anonymous **- i'm not exactly sure on how many chapters, i do know its going to be over 20.

**No 1 You Know **- a g/f right now is kinda hard, MAYBE later.

**joann **- the truth won't be (bluntly) revelead for a long time. but don't worry Sasuke will hear it b4 the end.

**TimeShifter16 **- for secret behind Itachi killing the clan refer to the previous reply. For the 'good side' ur close... just keep reading.

**jasx316 **- Hinata turn bad... i'll b honest, i don't see it working w/ the plot of the story. And Class S Missing-nins are generally not accepted back into their villages XD

**AkiaBinZaid **- if I explain it now, I wouldn't have anything to talk about in a later chapter.

**Daniel of Lorien **- how come u assume that Naruto dies?

**Sirus183 and Monaki-cheung **- ur question will be answered in a few chapters.

**shinikumiko **- got u addicted huh? well i'll put that in the personal achievement category ). Glad u like my fic.

**Monaki-cheung **- yes and can't tell u.

Anyone that's wondering about "the relationship" (It's more of: "the deal") btwn Naruto and Hinata, wait for a couple of chapters... (like till 17ish)

sorry for the delay; had to write an essay for college and packing...

* * *

Chapter 14 – Old Enemies, New Friends

Getting through and out of the Snow Country was easy, considering that he wasn't the only one leaving. It turned out that Naruto got lucky, the time he was leaving was the same that all the visitors and/or tourists leave, making it easy for Naruto to blend in.

After safely getting out of the Snow, Naruto crossed the border into the Earth Country. For the most part he managed to avoid the Stone shinobi way, but one time he did happen to sit quite close to a Stone shinobi group and overhear a single plan-altering conversation..

"… so were you part of the strike force?" asked Stone 1. (A/N: um… its 3 nins taking and I'm lazy).

"No, they sent me to clean up the mess and search for any secret documents and stuff," replied Stone 2.

"So what the hell was there at the Akatsuki hideout?" asked Stone 3.

"Nothing much at all; it was like it was deserted," explained Stone 2, "we found who the members were, some info about the missions, but otherwise there was nothing."

"Two of the members are still on the loose right?" Stone 1 asked.

"Yea, there were only three went we attacked," said Stone 3.

"I believe, there's a Cloud-nin and a Grass-nin that are still loose," explained Stone 2. "Oh and there was something about a Leaf-nin, but he seemed to have quit that organization about half a year before it was taken down."

'_So the Akatsuki were taken down…'_ mused Naruto. '_It seems that Raiko and Miya haven't been captured yet. That's good… though I wonder how the Stone knew where to go.'_ Naruto decided to continue listening in.

"Doesn't it seem strange that just out of the blue there was an anonymous tip-off about the Akatsuki and that it was right?" wondered Stone 1.

"Yea, but we got them, so I don't think it matters that much," said Stone 3.

They continued chatting for a while longer before finally leaving, but never again about the Akatsuki.

Naruto paid for his food and went back to his hotel to think, '_Six months after I left, they were taken down by an anonymous tip-off. Who would know where the Akatsuki were located…?'_ Naruto quickly realized that no one, apart from the members themselves knew where headquarters was. '_A random passer-by gets lucky? No… you'd have to be able to recognize them as Missing-nin.'_ Naruto pondered it for a little while longer, but came up with nothing.

'_Oh well, that means one less group to hide from,'_ thought Naruto happily. '_That's good that Raiko and Miya were able to escape… now, though, they won't be found. Especially Miya she can hide like no other.'_

Naruto wandered through the Earth Country for another week, seeking some more information about the Akatsuki take down. He found out that the Sand had helped the Stone, but that this also seemed to have sparked a civil war to break out within the Sand. "A hot spot for danger," the people called it and Naruto agreed.

After the Earth Country Naruto had a choice between the Rain and the Grass Country. He considered the seasons and instantly chose to go to the Grass Country, '_no way am I going the Rain Country in the middle of the rainy season… no way in hell!' _

Naruto had in no way forgotten about his training and would always make sure to practice wherever he went. Naruto walked off of the road and into a wide-open field and began to practice his taijutsu. Halfway through one of his kata, he noticed a big solitary Oak Tree standing on the opposite end of the field, '_well I'll be… I remember this place…'_

)))))**Flashback**(((((

"Now Naruto," yelled Miya from the other side of the field, "I want you to grab me with your vines."

"You're not gonna stand still are you?" asked Naruto with a scowl.

Miya smiled, "of course not. What's the fun in that?" she gave a small chuckle before her face went absolutely serious, "Now come on!"

"Alright, alright," he grumbled and touched the tree. He closed his eyes to envision where the vine was going and directed them to go where Miya was. As soon as the vine got within a meter of her, she jumped away shouting, "missed." Naruto then began to redirect the vine. But was again too slow, "ARRRHHH! This is impossible how am I supposed to catch you with only one vine!?" he yelled.

"My dear boy, who ever said you can only use one?" she said in a sweet voice.

"What!? You mean this whole time I could have made several?" asked Naruto incredulously.

"Of course," she replied.

Naruto once again pressed him palm to the tree, '_Now she tells me… but how would I coordinate multiple vines?'_ Naruto thought a little and then decided to put his taijutsu senses into play. '_I'll try to guess where she's going to jump based to her movement and then have a vine waiting for her…'_

Naruto put his idea into action, but found it hard to guess where Miya was going to jump next, '_is she doing this on purpose? Wait who am I kidding, of course she is.'_

At that point Miya decided to give Naruto another clue, "kid you're never gonna catch me using this little number of vines."

'_Little number,'_ thought Naruto who had by now been trained to read into people's words. '_I'm using ten right now, but… wait a second… this morning she said we were going to train on a full scale…'_ Naruto growled a little. '_A full scale, of course… she wants me to cover the entire field in vines.' _

Naruto then gathered up more chakra and did exactly that; he shot vines out in all directions and concentrated even harder to know which vine to activate to capture Miya. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Miya jump away and instantly prepped the group of vines she was going to land close to, '_gotcha,'_ thought Naruto, but too early. Miya didn't land fully, she just barely touched the ground, but enough to jump away. It kept going like this until Naruto had run out of chakra.

"That was good Naruto, you figured out the point of my initial lesson," said Miya.

)))))**End Flashback**(((((

A smile grazed Naruto's face as he put his hand on the tree, "ah memories… And then I remember the next day of training, to make the vines jump out like six feet… that was torturous."

Naruto then noticed that it was getting dark really fast, "I forgot that about the Grass Country, the dusk only lasts like 30 minutes." Naruto picked up his bag, got back on the trail and continued to the next village. A bandit tried to mug him soon after he had set out, but Naruto just calmly killed him without even breaking stride, '_fucking idiot.'_

He rented a room at the hotel nearest to the village's exit and went to get something to eat. Afterwards Naruto decided to wonder around the village and finally found his way to a hilltop over looking the entire village, "nice place they got here." It was about midnight when Naruto decided to stop his contemplations and go get a good night's sleep.

On the way back he passed an alley where he saw a kid getting beat up by the local gang. Naruto was going to just walk on by, when suddenly an image flashed through his mind. The image contained himself as a 10-year old kid being beat up by some villagers. Naruto scowled and looked back at the beating in the alley, '_God damn it! I don't care about that kid, I should just walk away… it's none of my business,'_ said one side of his mind. But another said the exact opposite; Naruto suddenly found himself stuck in the middle.

Finally on a random impulse he decided to walk towards the gang, '_I don't even know why I'm doing this… it's not like I care… ah what the hell may as well draw some blood…'_ he concluded.

Naruto, very quietly, came up behind one of the gang members and snapped his neck. Once the body fell forward lifeless the others turned around and looked at the intruder.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" yelled a man, who seemed to be the leader, as another crouched down to check his fallen comrade. "He's dead…" said the man slowly. This seemed to piss off the first guy, "You're gonna pay for that!" he yelled. Naruto just stood there calmly with uncaring eyes.

The leader then rushed at Naruto and tried to punch him in the face. Naruto simply moved his head a little and counter-attacked the leader with a powerful punch to his ribs. A loud cracking sound was heard and the leader fell down to the ground clutching his side in pain. Naruto then kneed him right in the face knocking him out and breaking his nose and maybe more.

The rest of the gang was getting more and more pissed off every second and when their leader collapsed they all jumped at Naruto in anger. Naruto merely punched the first guy, kicked the second one and let in a few punches and kicks, '_their punches are about as strong as a light push from Itachi.'_ Naruto took his time beating the crap out of them, making sure to draw more blood than was necessary before finally knocking them out and/or killing them.

When he was finally done he turned his attention to the boy, "hey you all right?" he asked.

The boy was still shocked that Naruto could easily defeat all those people, "y-y-yes… t-t-thank y-you s-sir."

"No problem!" said Naruto with a smile, "now come on its time for you to go home."

Naruto helped the boy back home and assured him that those people won't be bothering him for a long time. '_They sure as hell won't, I killed at least half of them and the rest… well they will be in the hospital for several months. After that some will walk, others won't…'_ Naruto felt surprisingly good after doing that. '_Hmm… why do I feel so… happy inside…?'_ Naruto brushed it off and turned in for the night.

For some reason unknown to Naruto, he stayed in that village for another week. Maybe it was to watch out for the boy or maybe to relive some more memories by practicing on that field; either way Naruto found the place to be surprisingly comfortable.

But all good things must come to an end and at the end of the week Naruto finally forced himself to leave and traveled around the Grass for about a month. After the Grass Country, Naruto made his way into the Lightning Country. Just like with the Grass, Naruto stayed in the Lightning Country for a month wandering all over the place.

During that time he found his way to a lonely mountain, the top of which was shrouded in clouds. Naruto decided to climb on top of it again, '_this time I'll take the hard way Raiko was talking about.'_ Six hours later Naruto was only about a quarter of the way up the mountain, '_damn I should have known when Raiko said hard he meant it. Hey wait I wonder if I could do "that" jutsu.'_ Naruto then pumped more chakra into his feet and jumped slightly off the wall, adding in more chakra to achieve the desired result. "Yes! I can still do it!" Naruto yelled while standing on air. '_Too bad it only last for about a minute,'_ though Naruto as he quickly made his way via 'floating' to a more comfortable climbing area. "And to think it took me three weeks to learn that… it was funny how Raiko had to try it three times before he actually got it work," Naruto laughed as he remember that day of training.

Finally after another half day Naruto was finally on the summit. '_I remember training to fight with these clouds obstructing my vision… actually that's when I learned to use that special ability of my eyes.'_

)))))**Flashback**(((((

Naruto is standing in torn clothing in the dense fog looking all around him trying to anticipate the upcoming attack. Raiko strikes at him and this time Naruto is at least able to block, '_Damn it! I can't last like this! The look in his eyes when he hits me… he's just laughing at me…'_ All these thought slowly, but surely angered Naruto and he had activated his Demon's Eyes without realizing it.

Raiko struck Naruto had in the middle section once more, but this time when their eyes met Naruto's mind flashed through all of the hellish tortures that he would give Raiko. To Naruto's great surprise and shock, Raiko fell on the ground screaming and grabbing his head in pain. Naruto then sees the whip-like marks that appear on his exposed arms, '_what the hell? No one around here has a whip…'_ The screaming did not last more than a minute before Raiko abruptly stopped and fell unconscious.

Itachi then came up and examined him. Finding only a few non-serious physical wounds, he drew back Raiko eyelids and activated his Mangekyou. In about half a minute Itachi stood up and looked back at Naruto, who now and a confused horrified look on his face.

"Naruto tell me exactly what happened?" said Itachi in a very serious tone.

"Well… he hit me and I guess I had already activated my Demon's Eyes," Naruto began explaining. "So then I was really pissed off and thought back to some of Kyuubi's memories from hell and wished I could do that to Raiko."

Itachi seemed to think all this over, "did you maintain eye contact with him during all of this?" he finally asked.

Naruto thought back, "yes I did," he answered.

"I see…" Itachi said in a far away voice.

"What is it, Itachi-sensei?" asked Naruto.

"Naruto, I want you to do that same thing you just did, to me," said Itachi.

"But sensei, you will get hurt like Raiko and…." Naruto started protesting, but was then cut off by Itachi.

"Just do it!"

Naruto then concentrated and brought back that same anger and frustration he was feeling during his battle with Raiko. He activated his eyes and let all his raw emotions out along with the Kyuubi's memories of Hell. Itachi had by now activated his Mangekyou and was staring down Naruto, but for now neither side had an advantage. Itachi then increased the effects of his technique and finally made Naruto brake down.

"What was that?" asked Naruto uncertainly, he saw that Itachi had activated his Mangekyou yet he was able to withstand it.

"Naruto, it seems your eyes have an ability similar to my Mangekyou," explained Itachi.

"What!? Really!?" Naruto stared wide-eyed.

"Yes, though yours seems to work the mind a little differently from mine…"

"How?"

"I'm not exactly sure," said Itachi, "we'll have to do more experimentation to find out."

)))))**End Flashback**(((((

It took me six months to fully understand and master two levels of that technique. "A mind technique that effects all levels of the mind, making any imagined injury appear on the physical body." That was what Itachi said about it, Naruto had always felt that Itachi was a bit jealous of Naruto's eyes having so much power. Of course Mangekyou had its own advantages that Naruto's Hell Jutsu simply could not do, so Naruto's was not an all-powerful eye. '_Through out the years I have managed to get it up to level 7. There are two more levels, but anything beyond 5 is basically instant death to humans.'_ After the merge Naruto considered himself as more of a half-demon. Also he noticed that it would really throw off his opponents to be called "human" during battle.

Naruto stayed on the mountain until his food had run out and then finally went down and left the Lightning Country several days after that.

'_What is wrong with me? It's bluntly obvious I shouldn't stay so long in a country with a Hidden Village,'_ Naruto continuously scolded himself. '_I guess a part of me never loses hope that I might stumble upon Them just once more.'_

When Naruto was ready to leave he contemplated the idea of trying to find Kisame, but decided against it. '_He wouldn't want me to just be pestering him without a purpose,'_ reasoned Naruto. Hence Naruto briefly traveled through the Water Country and soon found himself in the Wave Country. He noted that it was now quite the economical center, completely different from its ruined state just six years ago. '_Wow, it has been that long…'_ Naruto couldn't suppress his curiosity and went to find Tazuna's house. Making sure he wasn't noticed as he sat in a nearby tree waiting for the family to get home.

The first person he saw was Inari who was now very happy and cheerful; Naruto smiled slightly as that. Next he saw his mother, who was scolding Inari for being late. Finally Tazuna arrived tired and grumpy, '_as usual,'_ thought Naruto. From what Naruto caught of the conversation, Tazuna was contracted to build a bridge for the Water Country and has just returned today. '_Hmm… my luck is improving,'_ thought Naruto. Naruto stayed in the Wave Country for a week, shadowing Tazuna's family, before finally leaving.

Naruto decided to avoid the Fire Country and instead travel by sea, he hired a man to take him to the Wind Country on a private boat. The voyage took three weeks during which time Naruto and the captain had become good friends. The man had found out that Naruto was a ninja when Naruto accidentally dozed off and fell overboard, but landed on top of the water. The man didn't care for that and instead took the time to get to know Naruto as if he was a regular person.

They arrived to the Wind a week behind schedule due to the fact that they decided to wait out a storm. They were damn glad they did too, after all the wreckage that they saw along the way. Naruto wasn't that big of a water person and was happy to finally be on land, he paid the man and went on his way.

'_I wonder how Gaara is doing?'_ he mused while walking down one of the main roads. '_Especially with that civil war happening in his country…'_ just then his senses picked up on a fight not too far in the forest. Naruto thought it's probably some bandits again jumped toward it. For the past several months since saving that kid in the Grass, Naruto had been unable to pass up a chance to help people in need.

However once Naruto got to the battle scene he wished that he hadn't come. There he saw six shinobi, Sand most likely, fighting three other Sand-nins that looked familiar to Naruto. '_Damn it! I don't want to interfere with a shinobi battle.'_ Just then Naruto recognized one of the Sand-nin, '_that's Gaara…'_ he thought, '_then I don't need to help them, Gaara will be fine.'_ Naruto stayed hidden in the tree above the battle and continued observing.

His plan was ruined when two of the six Sand-nin used a Fuuiton attack that took out the entire tree that Naruto was sitting on and managed to cut his left arm. '_Destroying my seat is one thing, injuring me I won't forgive.'_

Naruto then appeared right behind the two Sand-nins with dual Rasengans and slammed them into their backs, drilling a hole halfway into their bodies. The comrades of the two dead Sand-nins were absolutely shocked that a shinobi had appeared out of nowhere and killed two of their best Fuuiton users.

"Who the hell are you?" yelled the captain of the remaining four, "and why the hell did you just do that?"

Naruto's dead-cold eyes focused on the leader, "No, and because they cut me," he replied monotonously.

"What do you mean 'no'? Whose side are you on, the Loyalists or Radicals?" the leader spat out the last name.

"My own," simply answered Naruto. '_So he's a loyalist… if this gets any worse I'll probably side with Gaara.'_

At this point the leader noticed that Naruto didn't wear a forehead protector, "hey what village are you from?"

Naruto's eyes flashed slightly, "I didn't come here to get interrogated! You have no authority over me!" Naruto said very forcefully.

"So then you must be a Radical, get him!" he commanded a ninja dressed in all gray.

The gray ninja rushed at Naruto, but before he could even throw a punch Naruto had already grabbed his arm, touched him lightly on the chest and gave him a sideways kick that sent the ninja flying into a tree on Naruto's left. All Sand-nins present were shocked to see blood pour out of the gray ninja's mouth uncontrollably, and weren't very surprised when he soon fell over dead.

Gaara saw the shock and confusion on their faces and took this opportunity to his advantage. He made his sand wrap around the leader and lifted him up into the air. Before any of the other Sand-nin could comprehend, Gaara said, "Desert Funeral." Blood sprayed everywhere and the remaining two Loyalist shinobi ran for their lives.

Naruto then walked up to Gaara, "and here I was thinking you could defend yourself without my help."

Gaara got a bewildered and angry look on his face, "we were doing absolutely fine and had already made up a plan, until you showed up."

"Now Gaara, we should be thankful that this young man helped us out; since we were out numbered," said Temari gently and bowed slightly to Naruto saying a respectful thank you.

Naruto chuckled slightly, "it was no problem. After all I was just repaying a debt," he said with a smile.

The three Sand-nins looked at him with confused faces, "what do you mean 'a debt'?" asked Temari, "Have we met before?"

Meanwhile Gaara was closely studying this mysterious shinobi, who managed to take out three high level Sand jounin as if they were nothing. He had a very strange feeling that he knew this person and that this person meant something to him. Naruto could tell that Gaara was close to guessing who he was and decided to give him a clue, he turned stared Gaara straight in the eyes and then switched them to his demonic ones and back again.

Gaara's eyes widen in realization, "You… you couldn't be… Naruto?" he asked very uncertainly.

Naruto smiles, "guilty as charged," he said. "It's been a while, hasn't it? Gaara, Temari and Kankuro."

The three stared at him wide-eyed, he had changed so much since they last saw him. They had all heard that he was a Missing-nin, and since the raid on the Akatsuki they knew that he had been part of that organization. Yet here he was standing in front of them, smiling even or at least they thought it was a smile since he still wore a facemask.

"Do people only recognize me by my whisker marks? I mean seriously," said Naruto with a laugh. Naruto then looked around, "come on, we should leave the battlefield."

As they walked to the Sand siblings' campsite the regular 'how are you's?' were exchanged; Naruto tried to tell them as little about his life as he could. "As a Missing-nin you must always be wary," is what Itachi used to say.

At the campsite they all sat around the fire on which a large deer was roasting. (A/N: the Wind Country isn't all desert, where they are right now it's a forest) Naruto broke the silence, "so what's with this civil I've been hearing about?" he asked.

"The civil war is a dispute about who the next Kazekage should be," explained Temari. "The Loyalists want to appoint Baki, our former sensei, as the Kazekage. The Radicals however have nominated a female Kage."

"A female Kage, I don't see the problem with that. Who would it be?" asked Naruto calmly.

"According to tradition in the Sand, the Kazekage must be male. As for who the female Kage is… well they have elected me," said Temari.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "so I'm talking to the future Kazekage, huh?"

"Nothing has been decided yet," said Kankuro.

"It's basically some old geezers who are set in their ways against the new generation," concluded Naruto simplifying it for himself.

"Only it isn't that simple there are other factors that one must consider," said Temari, "there's the political and the economical angle…"

Naruto suddenly cut her off, "but this is a war. Right now there is no politics and there is no economy. It's all about who can gain control first," said Naruto. "You will be a great Kage if you are thinking of these things ahead of time, but right now you **must **focus on the situation at hand; and that's the war. Once you win the war, you can worry about those other factors, all you want."

Temari was shocked that Naruto had just so plainly laid everything out for her. It was true she couldn't do anything politically, economically or socially until she was in the Kage position. "Alright, so that simply narrows our problem down to winning the war," she said with new enthusiasm.

'_Uzumaki, Naruto,'_ thought Gaara, '_whenever he comes into my life he always manages to change things for the better.'_

"So what's your plan of action?" asked Naruto, "So that I know where and when to stay out of your way," he clarified.

"Huh?' asked Temari, "you're not going to help us?"

"Help you? No, I'm just sight seeing here. And the last thing I need is Leaf Hunter-nin knocking… no breaking down my door," he said very calmly.

"You don't sight see in the desert," said Gaara bluntly, "you are here for another purpose."

Naruto frowned slightly, "well I guess I did have an ulterior motive for coming here." Everyone listened closely to what Naruto was going to say, "I guess I just wanted to see Gaara again and ask how he was doing." The serious air was instantly broken and an exasperated sigh was heard from Kankuro and Temari. Naruto laughed, "what did you think? I was here to assassinate some advanced bloodline or something? I'm not part of the Akatsuki anymore you know."

"Advanced bloodline… the Sand doesn't have that many," said Gaara contemplating something. "And all of those are very well hidden away."

"Look I'm not going to hide out for a year and then jump straight into the boiling kettle, also known as the Leaf Village, without gathering some information about what's happened in the world first," explained Naruto.

"Why would you want go to Leaf again?" asked Gaara.  
  
"I have a score to settle with someone there," answered Naruto, his eyes going cold stopping the conversation right there.

They ate their food in silence, but before they all went to bed, Temari made one final request to Naruto, "please Naruto-san think it over, we could really use your help with this."

"I really don't want to attract attention, and this isn't the most discreet of operations you know," he replied.

"I understand, but maybe we could keep you in the shadows somehow. Just please sleep on it and give us your answer in the morning." Naruto nodded in agreement and went to bed.

After everyone had gone to sleep Naruto was up for several hours contemplating his course of action. '_I could keep attention of my back and stay "in the shadows" as Temari said. But then again this is a war we're talking about, I would have to fight and then rumors would get around and the next thing I know I'm fighting off Hunter-nin.'_ Naruto did still feel obligated to help out his friends; they did help him out when he was in need. "You must take risks and make sacrifices for your friends," said Naruto out loud. '_I don't remember who said that or how many times I've heard it, but that doesn't make in any less true.'_ And with that Naruto fell asleep. (A/N: Gaara has also merged with Shukaku and can sleep now)

* * *

(A/N: on a scale of 1-10; How cruel would it be if I just cut it off right there?)

* * *

In the morning Naruto announced his decision, saying that he will stay and help them out. Temari thanked him, Gaara didn't say anything and Kankuro was still visibly wary of traveling with Naruto. 

"So what's the plan?" asked Naruto.

"Well for now we have been gathering up support and fighting off Loyalist attacks," answered Kankuro.

Naruto thought a little while, "I see… and how are things within the Village?"

"It's chaos, constant battles between the Loyalists and the Radicals…" explained Temari.

"But who has supposed control? Who is in the Kazekage Tower?" Naruto continued questioning.

"The enemy holds it for now, but they don't really have control over anything else," said Gaara.

"Well…" Naruto mused, "if you are able to resist them enough so that they don't have control anywhere else, then all you really need to do is capture their last bastion."

"You're telling us to go and attack the Kazekage Tower?" asked Kankuro incredulously. "Are you trying to get us killed!?"

Naruto chuckled, "well that is the only place you don't have at least partial control over."

"He's right," said Temari in a serious voice.

"What!?" yelled Kankuro.

"This is the only way," continued Temari, "if we hope to gain full control we have to relieve them of control of everything."

"Good, you understand," said Naruto. "Now to think up a plan… You said that the Sand Village is in chaos and that there are constant battles, right?"

"Yes, but how would that help us?" asked Temari.

"Simple, the battles are a distraction while several of our teams attack the Kazekage Tower," explained Naruto.

"That sounds easy enough," argued Kankuro, "but they have the Tower right now and they can't gain control. So what makes you think that we will be able to?"

"They can't gain control because your leader is alive and your followers have something to fight for," said Naruto, "but if either side were to lose their leader it would be weakened greatly."

"So you're saying we'll have to kill Baki," said Temari.

"Yes, if you want control."

"But he was our teacher… I mean…" said Temari.

"No! You can't hold any kind of attachments to him," said Naruto darkly. "He's your enemy now; nothing more, nothing less."

Naruto smiled a little, "if all else fails, Gaara can kill him right?"

Gaara looked at Naruto in annoyance, "you know I'm not a killing machine anymore," he stated with slight anger.

"Uh huh, and it didn't rain blood yesterday," Naruto countered. Then noticing Gaara's slightly saddened look added, "hey it's alright I understand how you feel. Hell, I killed more people than you yesterday."

"What did you do to that third guy?" asked Gaara, since to him it looked like Naruto hadn't even touched him.

Naruto thought a little, "oh, you mean the guy with blood pouring out of his mouth?" he asked absolutely calmly. The rest nodded, "I just pressed several pressure point over his chest and kicked him to a place where he can die."

The sand siblings were shocked at the calmness of Naruto's voice when it came to such a bloody killing. '_Is this what Akatsuki training is like?'_ wondered Temari. '_He's a monster, just like Gaara,'_ thought Kankuro shaking slightly. '_You've changed a lot Naruto… I hope you haven't become how I was before,' _thought Gaara, '_Wait a second, pressure points…'_

"So you were present at the Leaf's Jounin Exam right before the Hyuga assassination," said Gaara as more of a statement than a question.

"Yeah," answered Naruto, "that was my easy entrance into Konoha. How'd you know?"

"We heard from a Sand-nin that was there about what happened. You were there for scouting purposes, right?" asked Temari.

Naruto was slightly confused now, "well yes, I did do some scouting of course," he replied uncertainly. "I'm wasn't just gonna dash right in to the Hyuga Manor."

Temari titled her head at him, "but you weren't the strike team," she said.

"What?" asked Naruto now completely confused.

"You want revenge on that Legendary Sannin for killing Itachi, am I right?" asked Gaara.

"Well yea," answered Naruto slightly shocked that Gaara was able to read him that well.

"You were Itachi's accomplice during the whole thing," he continued.

"Accomplice? What story are you going off of?" asked Naruto.

Gaara and Temari told Naruto the official story that Tsunade cooked up about Itachi being the assassin.

"So that's what they did?" mused Naruto. "Well no wonder I've been easily able to avoid any Hunter-nin… they shifted the blame…" Naruto then told them the truth about the Hyuga assassination.

"So they covered it up for political reasons," mused Temari. "A good move for them, the alternative would have raised chaos."

"I guess… anyway we should get going," said Naruto. '_How dare they blame everything on Itachi-nii-chan? I keep finding more and more reason to kill Jiraiya.'_

The group of four left their campsite and began their way through the desert to the Hidden Sand Village. They had of course encountered some resistance on the journey, but nothing they couldn't handle. Naruto had picked up a Sand forehead protector from one of his kills and could now avoid questioning by any of the other Radicals. It took them about two months to coordinate the attack, a month to wait for everyone to get into position and another month to wait for the perfect opportunity.

Their break came when they got word of a secret meeting that was going to happen in the Kazekage Tower; all the Loyalist leaders were gonna be there. They knew the fighting would be tougher, but this was a sure way to gain control. Temari, Gaara, Kankuro and Naruto were all in one team that would spilt apart once they got in the Tower. Gaara would go with Temari to kill Baki and Naruto would go with Kankuro to kill the rest of the leaders. They would of course have support teams, but the responsibility would rest on them.

Since the meeting was going to start at midnight, the distraction teams attacked at 11:30pm. They successfully drew off all the Loyalist shinobi, except those guarding the Tower. At exactly midnight Temari gave the signal to attack the Kazekage Tower.

Gaara broke down the gate with his sand and heavy fighting ensued. Gaara, Temari, Kankuro and Naruto managed to avoid the main fighting and advanced on up the Tower. They soon came up to the meeting chamber and instantly burst in. Inside they saw Baki and six other people, who instantly jumped up into fighting stances. At this point Gaara and Temari split off focusing on Baki while Naruto and Kankuro took care of everyone else.

Normally Naruto would use a poison cloud, but he knew his allies had no resistance to poison so he couldn't use that. Instead he did several seals and said, "Katon: Housenka." Five fireballs flew toward Naruto's opponents, who were shocked that a Sand-nin could do Katon. Some dodged and those that didn't, not only got burned, but were also hit with a shuriken. Kankuro used this opportunity to attack with his Kuroari and managed to capture one of his opponents while he was dodging Naruto's jutsu.

Naruto then dodged and blocked some taijutsu attacks that were being thrown at him. He quickly did half a dozen seals and whispered, "Raiton: Electric Claws," Naruto then attacked his first opponent cutting him with his right-hand claws, right above his heart. The man fell down grabbing his chest as if he was having a heart attack, which he actually was. Naruto's other two opponents quickly charged against Naruto and one of them managed to punch Naruto in the face. However Naruto used this to his advantage and kicked one of the Sand-nin in the face, blocking a punch from the other Sand-nin he drove the claws on his left hand straight into the man's neck; once again discharging electricity from his claws.

That left only one more opponent; Naruto smirked as he saw that his opponent was going to use a wind attack against him. '_That won't work…'_ thought Naruto as he quickly ran through some hands seals, '_Raiton: Short Circuit.'_ Then at the same time that the Sand-nin shot forward his wind attack, Naruto shot his lightning attack at the Sand-nin. Since the wind attack took longer to complete, Naruto's attack reached the Sand-nin first and electrocuted his body until he finally fell dead. Naruto just weathered the wind attack.

He then looked around to see that Kankuro has also disposed of his two opponents and that Gaara and Temari were now fighting Baki. Baki used his wind attacks to keep Gaara's sand away and at the same time counter Temari's attacks. Finally Temari saw an opportunity, right after Baki had blown back Gaara's sand, and she unleashed her most powerful non-summoning attack. Baki did not have time to raise a proper defense and thrown back into the wall behind him.

He got up and was about to charge at when he suddenly felt that he could not move his legs. Unknown to Baki, Gaara had had his sand creeping up behind Baki and when blown back Baki just happened to land in that sand. Gaara then sent more of his sand and soon Baki was inside of Gaara's sand cocoon and with the words "Desert Funeral" Baki died.

)))))**One Month Later**(((((

Naruto had helped Temari become the Kazekage and crush any revolts. Temari instantly set out to make life better for everyone in the village and within a month was liked and respected as the new Kazekage. Naruto was now planning to leave, since diplomatic relations would soon be coming from the other villages including the Leaf.

"So you're going?" asked Gaara.

"I can't stay here," said Naruto while throwing more of his belongings in his bag. "Plus I still have things to do."

"Do you really think you can beat him?"

"I don't know… he was able to kill Itachi," replied Naruto.

"You know we're not all powerful," said Gaara, "you should, I don't know, test yourself somehow."

"Test myself?" mused Naruto. "That's not a bad idea. I would have to find a very strong opponent though." Gaara nodded.

"Just know that you are always welcome here," he said.

"Thanks Gaara," Naruto gave him a quick hug, "you and your siblings are really good people. Not many of those left in this world."

With that Naruto disappeared from the Sand, leaving Gaara with a feeling that they would see each other again.

While running through the desert Naruto's mind went back to what Gaara said, '_it's true, I need to test out my powers before confronting Jiraiya.'_ After several minutes of contemplation Naruto knew exactly who he was going to test himself against, '_he'll be perfect,'_ thought Naruto with a sly grin and adjusted his course slightly eastward.

* * *

A/N: hmm... I wonder who this mystery person is that Naruto is going to test his strength on? (well actually I know... but YOU wonder) :-) 

dont expect the next chapter out very soon, since i'm moving on friday.


	15. Battle for Power

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately). I do own all of my own characters.  
Thank you to all my reviewers!!! you ppl r so nice :-)

"blah" speech  
'_blah'_ thoughts

**HikaruOfArrow **- you'll find out very soon.

**Rhapsody of my souls **- that's a unique request. I will honor it in the next chapter.

**blazer6** - NaruTem, hmm... that would be very interesting especially w/ what happens in ch 15 and 16.

**Monaki-cheung **- no actually I'm not canadian (sorry), but I remebered those two names from history.

**blaboy **- finally someone that sees the huge difficulties w/ NaruHina pairing. You'll see what happens w/ those two in a couple of chapters.

**Drekko **- You don't have to like him, I don't make that requirement of my readers... As much as I say that this is fiction, I'm also trying to portray a bit of real life in this story. And in real life it's not so clear cut between 'good guys' and 'bad guys.' Also "the shit he's about to do"; you have no idea what's going to happen in the next several chapters.  
The Kyuubi is gone, completely merged w/ Naruto

**Skuld's Sentaro **- NaruTem... I'm jugling that idea in my head.

**yourbonesakin **- I'll to fit that in somehow. If not this chapter then the next one.

**Daniel of Lorien **- tragedy... perhaps, but I don't want to reveal anything.

**caro8 **- yes you will, relatively soon.

**Peter Kim** - more Inari, probly not. Konohamaru, you'll see in the next chapter.

**kodomo **- you're right I am a ruthless writer. If a character has to die for the story to continue I don't hesitate to make that desition. As for the elements, I was too lazy to look it up and took what I had lying around. Had a smooth trip moving and thanks.

**Heero2001** - Got my laptop here w/ the rest of my stuff and have all the network stuff already set up... I'd die w/o internet access...

**Hikaru Tsukiyono **- Well the battle and meeting will be interesting... wait why am I telling you all this, just read! its all below. Also pleased that a few ppl saw the logic.

Results:  
right guesses - 16  
wrong guesses - 9  
either/or - 4  
not bad, i expected worse for some reason; no offence to my wonderful readers and reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 15 – Battle for Power

Naruto sat in a tree over-looking the entrance to the underground house. '_I can just smell all the snakes crawling around here… my fox side is going crazy.'_

Naruto had quickly made his way northeast, past the Fire Country, into the infamous Sound Country. He first made his way to the Sound Village, but had soon found out that Orochimaru actually spent most of his time outside the village in some sort of secret lair. It didn't take Naruto long to find this secret lair, considering all he had to do all follow the smell of snakes and blood.

Once he had found it, Naruto spent an extra bit of time looking for some sort of back door or alternate entrance, but had found nothing. '_It's going to be a pain going through the front door, but it doesn't look like I have a choice.' _Out of habit, Naruto decided to wait till nightfall to attack, _'not that it really matters since they live in darkness anyway, but this way at least I'll fell more comfortable,'_ mused Naruto.

Naruto decided not to blow up the door with a powerful jutsu, but instead opted for stealth. He snuck up to the door and simply slashed it open with his katana. He was confronted with a dark corridor, Naruto immediately activated his Demon Eyes, which gave him night vision.

He saw that the corridor was absolutely straight and sloped downwards. Naruto quickly followed it and arrived at a door, which he once again sliced through. Inside he was confronted with three doors, '_What the fuck?'_ Naruto didn't really care though and picked the right one.

A giant snake leaped out at him with its mouth open. Naruto jumped out of the way, kicking the snake in the back of the head. The snake turned around and made to bite Naruto who disappeared, re-appearing right behind the snake and chopped its head off.

"Alright, let's see what's behind door number two," said Naruto holding his katana in a defensive position.

Naruto then opened the middle door and made to defend himself, but quickly stopped himself seeing that there was nothing. Naruto shrugged slightly and went inside, ending up in a large completely open room with another door on the other side. As soon as he got to the middle of the room, the door behind him shut itself and a metals bars fell down from the ceiling in front of both doors, sealing Naruto inside.

_'Oh joy..'_ though Naruto as he saw four ninjas appear out of nowhere.

Naruto decided to entertain himself, "and who might you be?" he asked in a pleasant tone.

"We are the Four Sounds …" they then introduced themselves as the north, south, east or west gates, but Naruto tuned out all of that and openly yawned. This seemed to piss them off as some of the scowled.

The North-nin attacked Naruto head on with taijutsu, which Naruto had no problem blocking and had soon counter-attacked with a kick to the guy's ribs, sending him into a wall. Naruto then immediately dodged a Fuuiton jutsu from the South-nin. Seeing that the West-nin was going to use a Katon jutsu, Naruto did a dozen hand seals and when his opponent said "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu," Naruto countered with a Karyuu Endan. The West-nin, being immobilized while performing his jutsu, could not avoid the attack and got his torso heavily burned; he fell to the ground screaming in pain, but soon quieted down in death.

While doing the Karyuu Endan, Naruto had been distracted and was unable to block a horde of punches from the South-nin. Naruto was thrown into a wall, but his opponent made a small mistake giving Naruto a bit of time to regain his footing and was rewarded with a kick to the head, immediately followed by a knee to the kidney and a heavy punch that sent her flying back towards her teammates.

Not losing even a second, Naruto did a half dozen hand seals and said "Raiton: Chain Lightning," shooting one large bolt of lightning at the still flying back South-nin. The lightning hit the South-nin as soon as she had landed and immediately broke off and hit her teammates as well. '_Too bad chain lightning divides the damage making each of the target only take a fraction of the actual damage.'_

The shock from the lightning had temporarily fazed the Sound-nins and Naruto used this little time to teleport right next to them and chop off the North-nin's head. He was going to stab the East-nin, but he had gone to Cursed Seal Level 1 and managed to get away in time. Naruto wasted no time in immobilizing the South-nin, through a pressure point on the neck and rendered her temporarily paralyzed from the neck down.

The East-nin, meanwhile, had pulled out three bells from his pouch and threw them at Naruto who instinctively dodged. However when the bells hit the ground they made a very loud high-pitched sound that Naruto just couldn't stand. '_God damn, what is that?' _Naruto was forced to stop his attack and cover his ears.

The Sound-nin smirked and threw another bell right at Naruto, but this one exploded right after the first bounce. Naruto was thrown back and made a dent on the wall. Naruto then put a palm on the ground and closed his eyes, as if feeling for something. The Sound-nin thought that the high-pitched sound was finally breaking down Naruto, but just as he was about to finish him off with taijutsu he found that his legs were bound.

Looking down he noticed some brown and green vines, with small purple flowers snacking their way up his legs. Suddenly the flowers opened up quickly shooting out a light-purple smoke. The Sound-nin didn't have time to react before the he had already inhaled the smoke. He suddenly felt the world around him spin, he shook his head several times and the spinning stopped. '_Hmm… the poison isn't even that strong…' _he thought.

He rushed at Naruto, but out of nowhere a giant red plant jumped out at him and made to bite his head off. The Sound-nin jumped back and threw three shuriken at it. The shuriken passed right through the plant, '_genjutsu… how stupid of me.'_ He then rushed at Naruto once again and when the plant went to attack he just let it thinking it would pass straight through him. That was not the case, however, as he was swallowed up completely. He thrashed and yelled as he tried to break out of the plant, but was not even able to damage it.

On the outside watched, with a smile, as the Sound-nin randomly waved him arms in the air and yelled something about letting him go, '_hah, it seems the hallucinogenic poison took effect perfectly. That combined with a little genjutsu I put on him, he's gone.'_ Naruto immediately noticed that the bells had stopped making the noise, '_I was right in assuming that the bells are connected to him.'_

Naruto then stood up and threw two throwing knives, covered with poison, at the East-nin. One of the knives hit him in the chest and the other in the stomach; he stopped thrashing around immediately and dropped dead in a minute.

Naruto now focused his attention on the only remaining Sound-nin. Naruto grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into a wall, "is Orochimaru here?" he asked in a fierce voice.

"Ah, ah…"

"Answer me!" he growled.

Suddenly determination flashed through her eyes, "you'll never get to him…" she pulled out her kunai, but before she cold do anything Naruto squeezed harder and squashed her neck. '_I know the time limit on that paralysis a lot better than you.'_

"Thank you, that was all I needed to know," he said as he simply dropped the body.

He looked over at the blocked door and smirked. Then charging up a Rasengan, he attached some chakra strings to it and used them to throw it at the wall right next to the door. The wall exploded making a hole just big enough for Naruto to walk through.

Unknown to Naruto, Kabuto had been watching him since he had entered the compound. '_This guy is good to be able to fight off the Four Sounds_,' thought Kabuto contemplating whether he should go and fight him. Then just as Naruto was doing his lightning jutsu, the screen Kabuto was watching went black, '_what the?_' The electrical interference had knocked out the camera, leaving Kabuto in the dark about how the battle was progressing. Several minutes passed before Kabuto finally heard was an explosion that managed to knock out the camera in the next room. '_Damn it! Looks like I will have to fight him._'

"Kabuto, what is going on?" asked Orochimaru as he walked into the control room.

"We have an intruder, Orochimaru-sama" replied Kabuto.

"Then deal with him!" he commanded.

"Yes Orochimaru-sama," said Kabuto and left.

Naruto, meanwhile, found himself in a large arena-type room, the ceiling was high enough to be able to do a large summon, and it was all made out of a yellow brick that had blood sloshed all over it. '_This must be some sort of battle arena that Orochimaru uses for training and god knows what else.'_

Suddenly his sense picked up another presence in the room, he turned his head and saw a figure on the opposite side.

"Well, well, you've made it thus far, but this will be the end of your journey," the figure said.

"Confident as ever, Kabuto," said Naruto coldly.

Kabuto tilted his head and a small smirk grazed his lips, "Naruto-kun, never though I'd see you again."

"You thought wrong… or didn't think enough," sneered Naruto, "but it doesn't matter, I didn't come here for you."

"My, my and why would you be after Orochimaru-sama?" asked Kabuto.

"None of your damn business," snarled Naruto getting into a loose fighting stance. '_I've had it with this guy, he always seems to get on my nerves.'_

"Naruto-kun, why do you want to fight me?" said Kabuto calmly. "We are so much alike."

"How do you figure that?"

"We both left that horrible Village, sided with the enemy and betrayed the trust out former comrades," answered Kabuto.

Naruto could not find any way to argue against that, '_and here I am, putting myself in the righteous seat. I'm exactly like him… betrayed people that I used to call friends, even killed some of them; and why? for what? Because I was pissed off at them; so that I could complete my mission…? My own selfish gains.'_ Naruto's resolute face expression was faltering, but his darker side kicked in once more and Naruto remembered his original purpose here, '_Forget this shit he's feeding you! You have a different purpose here and he's just in the way.' _

Naruto shook his head, the coldness returning to his eyes as got ready for battle.

"Naruto-kun, surely you remember what happened the last time we fought?"

"Yeah I kicked your ass."

"When I was taking it easy on you… but this time you won't walk away, since you don't have that legendary…" Naruto cut him off by throwing three shuriken at him.

Kabuto dodged and attacked Naruto in close combat. Naruto dodged and blocked Kabuto's strikes and counter-attacked too, but was unable to get anything through Kabuto's defense.

"You've gotten better Naruto-kun," remarked Kabuto.

"And you've gotten worse," taunted Naruto.

Kabuto grimaced, did a few hand seals and his hand began to glow a greenish color. "Gotten worse, have I?" said Kabuto and charged at Naruto.

Naruto remembered that medical technique and knew what he had to do to be able to counter it. He also did several seals and thought, '_Demonic: Fire Wave,'_ however unlike regularly, Naruto made his armor be skintight.

Kabuto attacked aiming for Naruto's vital points, but was surprised when his attack didn't do anything, '_did he block it? Didn't look like it… he must have gathered chakra to that one vital point,'_ concluded Kabuto. He then assaulted Naruto again aiming all over body, Naruto blocked some but wasn't really worried about the rest. Kabuto started getting frustrated and put more effort into his attacks, thus leaving himself open. Naruto did not miss the opportunity and punched Kabuto in the lower ribs and face, throwing him back slightly.

'_How is he able to dodge my attacks?'_ wondered Kabuto he failed to see Naruto doing some hand seals.

"Doton: Spike" said Naruto tapping his foot on the ground several times. Several spike shot up from under Kabuto, who was barely able to dodge them with a few scratches on his shins. Meanwhile Naruto was already preparing to use another jutsu at the same time, "Fuuiton: Wind Tunnel." Kabuto had enough trouble escaping from the spikes that seemed to know exactly where he was going to land and now Naruto had thrown in a wind attack.

Kabuto knew that he could only dodge one of them so he opted to avoid the wind attack, just as Naruto had predicted. '_I knew it… that's why I didn't pump a lot of chakra into it,' _Naruto chuckled mentally. Naruto then disappeared, re-appearing right behind Kabuto and kicked him in the stomach, making him land in a wall. Before Kabuto had a chance to fall down to the ground, two Earth Spikes came out of the ground in front of him, curved towards him and pinned him through his thighs into the wall.

Naruto walked over to Kabuto, "you're wondering why your attacks were useless?" he asked his struggling prisoner. Naruto then un-tightened his Fire Wave, letting all the nine chakra tails be clearly visible. "This is a little shield that I cooked up for myself. Though it has some offensive abilities too…" explained Naruto calmly.

He got even closer to Kabuto, his tails swinging furiously behind him. He mentally picked out Kabuto's eight critical points and aimed the tails at each one. Then once he was in range he pushed his tails straight through Kabuto. Blood sprayed everywhere, on Naruto's clothes, hair, and face; there was a giant puddle right beneath Naruto's feet. Naruto then released both Doton and Demonic jutsus and let what was left of Kabuto's body fall down to the ground. With a satisfied smile, Naruto licked some of the blood of his lips.

"Naruto-kun... I have been expecting you to come visit me," said Orochimaru in a calm voice. Naruto turned around and just glared at him. "I want to make you a proposition..."

"A proposition? You're not pissed that I just killed your personal slave?" asked Naruto.

"No, he served his purpose..." answered Orochimaru with a sly grin.

"What is this proposition of yours?"

"Oh it's very simple. I know that you hate Konoha and you know that I hate Konoha, so I thought we'd help each other out."

_'So he wants to use me to destroy Konoha... and he actually thinks I'll trust him?'_

"Nope sorry that won't do," simply replied Naruto.

"Naruto, we are exactly the same, don't you see?" he said with malicious smile. "We have both devoted our lives to destroying that accursed place we grew up in."

_'That's true... a part of me does want to destroy the Leaf Village. Completely erasing the history of my youth... Am I running away from it...?'_ wondered Naruto.

"You came here now to kill me," it was more of a statement than a question. "You're obviously doing this to test yourself." Naruto's head perked up a little; Orochimaru's grin widened.

"Surprised that I know this, Naruto? It's easily seen actually," continued Orochimaru. "And there's only one reason that could possibly be motivating you... you want to kill your childhood teacher... just like I did," he licked his lips at the fond memory.

Naruto grimaced, _'he's right... and afterwards I'll be liking my lips just like him...' _A sudden sadness washed over Naruto, _'All these years I've hated Orochimaru and Kabuto, but actually... I'm exactly like them..._' Naruto was hit hard by this revelation, _'What have I become...?'_

He suddenly remembered the past few months in the Sand, '_is this why Kankuro and Temari were wary of me? Because I reminded them of how Gaara was like... Would I even hesitate to kill any of them?_' His thoughts when to all the people he had left behind in Konoha and he realized that he could easily kill everyone without even a second's pause. It scared him.

"No Orochimaru, I won't join forces with you!" said Naruto forcefully. '_I won't be like this anymore... this part of me will die with him, and that's a promise!'_

"Naruto-kun, I could grant you unimaginable power..." Orochimaru was sharply cut off.

"Don't tempt me with power, I have plenty of my own..." said Naruto. '_And it had instantly managed to corrupt me_,' Naruto concluded sadly.

"Naruto-kun, you're making this difficult then."

"I don't need your Cursed Seal, I already have enough dark power. Actually more than any stupid seal could ever provide," sneered Naruto.

At this Orochimaru's face darkened and the smile fell, "then I shall kill you for refusing my generous gift and offer."

Orochimaru then activated his Kanashibari no Jutsu (Body Freeze Technique) and tried to stare down Naruto. However Naruto simply activated his Demon Eyes and glared right back. '_If he keeps glaring like this I'll just use Hell and end it,'_ thought Naruto, amused at the slightly surprised look on Orochimaru's face, '_a lot of things have changed since we fought last.'_

Orochimaru, unsatisfied with his jutsu's result, charged at Naruto, but at the last second disappeared and instead made a fireball fly right at Naruto's back. Naruto didn't have time to dodge and took it head on; Orochimaru smirked, that is until a poof was heard and he realized that that had been a clone.

Meanwhile, the real Naruto had actually witnessed the entire conversation from the shadows on the far side of the room. As soon as his clone was eliminated, he did a few quick seals and tapped his foot softly, "Doton: Explosion" he whispered. The ground under Orochimaru rumbled lightly and exploded, sending him into a wall, but he also disappeared in a cloud of smoke. However Naruto knew exactly where he was, '_you smell too much like snake my friend…and foxes hate snakes.'_

Naruto instantly used Split and had the clone run straight toward Orochimaru. Orochimaru thought that he had forced Naruto to come out and so went forward to fight him. Naruto went to kick Orochimaru in the head, but he blocked counter-attacking with a punch to Naruto's side. Naruto twisted his body making Orochimaru miss and used that momentum for a sideways kick.

The snake-sannin saw through this and jumped back. He held his palm upwards and blew out a fireball at Naruto. Naruto had already seen this move before and knew what was going to happen, so by the time that the fireball was coming at him, Naruto's clone had already prepared a Kawarimi and re-appeared right behind Orochimaru punching him in the kidneys. After two punches this Orochimaru dissolved into mud and the clone was killed by a shuriken to the back.

'_Damn it!'_ cursed Naruto, '_I'll see if can find him another way then.'_ Naruto put his palm on the wall and began creating vines, '_good the floor isn't thick enough to stop them, so can also track him.'_

Suddenly Naruto sensed danger and barely managed to avoid a snakebite. The snake chased after Naruto, but he kept avoiding it. Naruto finally Split into three clones and while the snake was distracted with the clones he doubled back, took out his katana and chopped off the snake's head.

However, as soon as he had done that he received a fierce kick to the side and flew into the wall. Naruto looked up to see the Kusanagi no Tsurugi (Grasscutter Blade) coming out of Orochimaru's mouth, and knew he was in for a sword fight.

As soon as the sword was completely out, Orochimaru then made it fly straight at Naruto, who was able to block with his own. On the next strike, Naruto not only had to block the Kusanagi, but also avoid a Doton Explosion that Orochimaru had done. '_Shit, I can't counter-attack a sword… I'll have to go straight for the controller,'_ concluded Naruto. He then parried another attack while doing a dozen one-handed seals, "Raiton: Nova." Electricity went flying in a ring around Naruto hitting everything in its path and also illuminating the entire room.

So even though Orochimaru managed to dodge it by jumping over it, Naruto instantly made his position. "Fuuiton: Hurricane Winds" said Naruto as he directed the attack at the mid-air Orochimaru, who countered by calling his sword and using it to alter the direction of the winds; even so his left arm and right leg were cut.

Unrelenting in his attack, Naruto put away his katana and did several more hand seals, "Fuuiton: Wind Tunnel." Naruto poured in more chakra than normal into the attack making sure that Orochimaru couldn't just use his sword. As soon as the beginning of the attack hit, Orochimaru realized that his sword trick won't work this time, so he quickly un-summoned it and did several hand seals, "Fuuiton: Wind Barrier," he whispered. The wind attack and defense collided nullifying each other completely.

Orochimaru landed safely not far from where Naruto was standing, he immediately noticed that that last attack had taken a lot out of Naruto and seized the opportunity. He the charged Naruto and kicked him hard in the face, followed up by a kick to the gut that sent him into a wall. Before Naruto could get up a horde of punches was thrown at him, and only stopped when he began falling face forward to the ground.

However at the last moment, Naruto put his hands out in front of him, pushed up and kicked Orochimaru while doing a front flip. One foot kicking him in the chest the other in the face; both throwing him back a little.

While in the handstand, Naruto generated chakra to his hands, '_Doton: Spike'_ and a spike appeared right under Orochimaru who barely had enough time to jump away with only a small scratch on his ankle. However he did not notice the second spike that came up right behind him until he was right now to it, '_Doton: Spike Explosion' _thought Naruto while flipping himself over. The spike exploded and sent Orochimaru tumbling along the ground.

Orochimaru stood up to see a giant fireball coming at him, he quickly ran through several dozen seals and said, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Edo Tensei." A portal appeared under his feet and out of it came a coffin,

'_Shit! I've heard about this technique,'_ thought Naruto, '_he's raising the dead and using the coffin as a shield… I sure as hell don't want to know who it's going to be. But how to stop it?'_ Naruto had to think fast, but fortunately quickly noticed that Orochimaru was maintaining the summoning, '_that's it… it'll drain a bunch of chakra, but affect him directly.'_

Naruto quickly went through quite a bit of hand seals and said "Kinjutsu-Katon: Lake of Fire." Naruto made the fire start right under Orochimaru and extend out over half the arena; he especially made sure that the coffin was burned. Orochimaru managed to jump up on the wall and out of the fire, but was shocked that Naruto could make fire appear out of nowhere, '_a Kinjutsu that I do not know… perhaps I shouldn't kill him just yet,'_ he mused.

After making sure the summoning of the dead wasn't a problem, Naruto crouched down and put his palm on the floor. He knew exactly where Orochimaru was hiding out from the fire and instantly directed his vines there, making them burst straight through the wall around Orochimaru who climbed even higher to avoid them. '_Damn it, I can't maintain both jutsus…'_ cursed Naruto and released the Lake of Fire, but put more effort into the vines directing them down to the ground knowing that Orochimaru would come down off the wall.

Just as predicted, once the fire was extinguished Orochimaru jumped down off the wall and was instantly surrounded by the vines. He then decided to fight them by using a Katon jutsu to burn them, Naruto saw this and had the vines release their poison. Orochimaru saw the poison surrounding him through the fire and knew the only out was up. He knew he couldn't fly so he did the next best thing, he bit his thumb ran it down the tattoo on his arm and said "Kuchiyose no Jutsu."

Orochimaru appeared on top of a mid-sized snake, which crushed all the vines. He then noticed Naruto also biting his thumb, "toads are useless in enclosed areas, don't you know?"

"Oh really..." Naruto then did four hand seals and said "Kuchiyose."

As the smoke was starting to clear Orochimaru could see something swaying in the back of the summoning, but figured it was just the swords. Then suddenly a loud menacing growl was heard from inside the clouds. "Yes, Kitchi... we're having snake tonight," said Naruto in a low voice.

When the clouds finally cleared, there was Naruto on top of a silver fox slightly larger than Orochimaru's snake; its tail was swaying furiously behind it, "you were saying something about toads?" asked Naruto sarcastically and Orochimaru scowled.

Kitchi did not even wait for a command and instantly jumped at the snake, which managed to avoid the claws and teeth, but was slammed into the wall by the fox's tail. The snake recovered quickly and made a strike at Kitchi, which the fox easily dodged, but instantly saw the opening and clawed the snake in the lower belly. Naruto also used that opportunity to direct a dozen fireballs at Orochimaru and his snake, he quickly Kage Bushined them making it several hundred. Orochimaru managed to raise a barrier for himself, but the snake took the fireballs head on.

It hissed in pain and lunged itself into a reckless attack against the fox. Kitchi, being well trained against snakes, found the desired opening and while pining the snake down with his paw bit into its throat, then thrashed it around for a few moments making sure it was dead.

Orochimaru had long since jumped down from the snake's head and watched the death of his summoning from the shadows. As soon as Naruto had un-summoned the fox, Orochimaru attacked, "Doton: Mud Slide" he said making a mud wave crash into the Doton Barrier that Naruto had put up. Orochimaru did not relent there and circled around Naruto doing Katon: Karyuu Endan. Naruto once again put up the Doton Barrier, unknowingly playing right into Orochimaru's trap.

Once Orochimaru saw this he made a clone, while he jumped up and over the Doton Barrier. The clone did a few quick hand seals and slammed its palms into the ground saying, "Doton: Quicksand," and a moment later the real Orochimaru attacked from about saying, "Katon: Karyuu Endan."

Naruto found himself trapped by the Quicksand Jutsu, but before he could get out of it another attack rained down from above. His clothes, hair and skin were slightly burned before the finally activated his demonic technique "Fire Wave." Thankfully Kyuubi's chakra recovered him within a minute, unfortunately as soon as he came out of the Fire Wave his opponent was right there ready to beat him to a pulp.

'_Shit I'm running low on chakra,_' cursed Naruto while dodging. '_Wait… those are estimates for a series... but... what about one attack?_' Naruto mentally recalculated how much chakra he had available. '_Great! So if I can get that attack to stick and get it halfway or more, I'll be fine,'_ Naruto prepared himself mentally and physically.

Naruto managed to pause the attack by hitting Orochimaru in the stomach and throwing him back out of reach. He then quickly went through two-dozen hand seals and focused the chakra to his fingertips and had soon started moving them slightly.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru recovered and was ready to charge at Naruto again, but found that his limbs wouldn't move. '_What the hell? It's as is all my muscles are numb..'_ Orochimaru wondered what had happened. He looked up at Naruto who was smirking.

"Can't move can you?" he asked tauntingly, Orochimaru scowled. "Now… you will feel a sharp pain in your right arm," said Naruto and twitched one finger. Instantly afterwards Orochimaru screamed out in pain as he felt as if his right arm was being burnt from the inside out. Another scream of pain came out of the snake-sannin as his left arm was now feeling the same thing.

After several minutes Naruto spoke again, "now that your arms are disabled… what shall I do with you?" Orochimaru looked up to see that Naruto's eyes had changed to red and began to glow; he was also radiating inhuman amounts of killer intent. Seeing the discomfort on Orochimaru's face he continued, "perhaps I should burn all your insides, finally ending with the heart…"

Naruto noticed the confusion and absolute fear on his opponent's face and decided to explain his technique. "I simply attached chakra strings to you and using electricity numbed the places where the chakra strings are attached so that you had no idea they were there. Once attached I can send chakra through the strings, which on contact with the your skin changes into electricity and I can direct it anywhere in the your body. If shot at the brain, the nervous system will get screwed up and the person won't be able to move; as you can see right now. I call it, 'Kinjutsu-Raiton: Electric Wave,' however there is a compliment to this jutsu, how about we try that one out?" an evil look covered his face.

Naruto then brought his hand forward and started closing it slowly; Orochimaru felt his chest getting hotter and hotter. "Electric Funeral," said Naruto evilly and tightly closed his fist. Orochimaru felt an incredible pain in the left part of his chest. Smoke soon started rising out of Orochimaru's chest, a few moments later Naruto opened his fist and Orochimaru's body fell dead; face permanently twisted in a horrifying expression. "Electric Funeral, directs all or most of the electricity straight to the heart or brain and that part is then fried to a crisp… Beautiful, no?" concluded Naruto with a sadistic smile.

He then walked up to Orochimaru and chopped off his head putting in his bag for later; for exactly what, he wasn't sure yet. As soon as he had done that, the world blurred and he fell down unconscious from over using his chakra.

Several hours later he woke up in darkness to an unfamiliar ceiling, '_where the hell am I?'_ Turning his head a little he saw the headless body of Orochimaru, '_oh right… now I remember…'_ thought Naruto as he slowly got up and silently thanked the Kyuubi for its regenerative capabilities. He picked up the bag with the head and made his way out the darkness of Orochimaru's lair and into the bright sunlight of the forest.

Naruto looked down at the head in his bag, "I should at least tell his village that they are free from him." He then regained his bearings and went off in the direction of the Sound Village, all the while contemplating his revenge on Jiraiya. '_Is it selfish of me to want to get him back for killing Itachi?'_ wondered Naruto. '_I really don't want to be like Orochimaru… respected out of fear. I want people to respect and recognize me for who I am, not the image that I carry around… Itachi tried to carry an image not his own,'_ mused Naruto getting angry after the last part, '_for that bastard with a one-track mind, who can't even take the fucking hint!'_ Naruto growled wanting to beat the shit out of him again.

He sat in on a tree branch over-looking the Sound Village, it looked so peaceful, '_kinda like the Leaf... where the hell did that come from?_' wondered Naruto. _'Then again it wouldn't have such a bad reputation if it wasn't for Orochimaru. Well he's gone now and with him the old me.' _

Naruto looked back out at the village, _'to think that an entire village could be hounded by just the Kage._' He looked back and forth between the bag in his hand and the Sound Village, '_… I wonder…'_

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A/N: classes started today (i only have labs, so i didnt have anything) anyway, I'm just saying that updating will be harder. so plz dont get mad


	16. The Sound

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately). I do own all of my own characters.  
Thank you to all my reviewers!!! you ppl r so nice :-)

"blah" speech  
'_blah'_ thoughts

**Gelionlegends **- Most of your questions will be answered in this chapter, but the others; pairings - i dunno... the thing w/ Sasuke isn't like you percieve it to be... Hell at a high lvl? I'll consider it... Hinata and Naruto you will see next chapter.

**Monaki-cheung** - I'll cover that this chapter

**bLacKBodian **- good, I'm happy that it strayed from the typical Naruto fics. Switch sides? Not exactly sure what you mean, but it'll probly be answered in this chapter.

**hmr **- close... just read...

**sephynarutocloud **- stuff together...? Umm... they're gonna talk...

**ryan merrick** - i agree w/ that quote... and Naruto's revenge won't be a linear thing. It'll probly have twists and turns that I haven't even thought up yet. The ending is... not quite wat you think.

**Peter Kim **- some things are right, others not so... but it's all answered in this chapter. Your rankings are very close and he will rule in partial secrecy...

**TimeShifter16** - yes many questions that won't all be answered in one chapter. Second chance? ehhhhhhh kind of, but not really (if u know wat i mean). Konohamaru won't die... yet... -evil smile- ... actually his fate hasn't been written yet (yes pun intended).  
Your suggestion is great except that the story doesn't go like that... (I would say more, but I don't want to spoil)

**Dragon Noir** - possible spoil? :-) not really since I already know what's going to happen... and where did you get the idea that NaruHina starts in ch17? They will meet... ah you'll c...

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Chapter 16 – The Sound

Naruto looked out over the Sound Village that was illuminated by the mid-day sun, '_I wonder if this could work…'_ he mused entertaining a certain idea in his head, '_I may as well give it a try.'_ He sat there for some time contemplating how he should do this, '_a nice approach versus a forceful approach…'_

Naruto then jumped off the tree and went around to the far side of the village wall and stealthily made his way over the wall, past the security and into the main stream of the village. Naruto then steadily made his way to the Otokage Tower, '_in the Sound Village no one really likes Orochimaru and would probably jump at the opportunity to replace him…' _Naruto remembered Itachi saying. '_And that is exactly what I'm going to play on,' _thought Naruto.

Naruto walked up to the top floor and asked to see the Stewart saying that even though he didn't have an appointment it was very urgent business. The secretary could tell that Naruto was not joking and after clearing it with the Stewart showed Naruto in.

Naruto walked in to a large room, half of which looked like a library because of its immense amounts of books and scrolls. There was another door on the opposite side of the room, it was open and Naruto could see that inside was a large conference chamber. He looked to the right and saw a desk, which was much cleaner than he had ever seen the Hokage's desk. Behind the desk sat a man about fifty years of age with a wrinkled face, semi-gray hair, and brown eyes containing many years of knowledge, but also heavy traces of fear. '_Not surprising that Orochimaru picked someone old and weak to govern for him… manipulation by fear… it just makes this easier for me…'_

"What is this important business that you have?" asked the Stewart trying to sound confident.

"It concerns this village…" said Naruto cryptically.

The Stewart eyed Naruto suspiciously, "What do you mean by that? And who are you?"

"It is about the future leader of this village," answered Naruto simply.

The old man jumped out of his chair making it fall to the floor, "What!? The future leader!? Are you crazy!?" he yelled at Naruto who remained completely calm. "And you never did say who you were!"

"Actually I answered both your questions with my previous answer."

The Stewart looked over Naruto from head to toe, "you're saying that you are going to be the next Otokage? You've got to be joking me _kid_." The Stewart sneered the last word. "Guards!" he yelled.

Naruto's face hardened a little because of that demeaning comment, he pulled out the bag from his backpack and reached into it. Just as the ANBU came into the room, Naruto pulled out Orochimaru's head for everyone to see. The Stewart was halfway through yelling at the guard to throw Naruto out when he caught sight of the severed head. His breath caught in his throat and he along with everyone else in the room stared at the head as if it was a wonder of the world.

Several minutes passed in complete silence until Naruto finally put the head on the table with a heavy thud. The Stewart snapped out of his stare and went over to the table to examine the head making sure it wasn't something jutsu-created. When he was finally satisfied he went to gaping at Naruto, '_this kid… he… he killed that evil tyrant…'_

Naruto sighed at the scene in front of him, '_seriously people don't just stand there like fish gaping at me… I expected a horde of questions and I get absolute silence… go figure.'_

"Hey!" said Naruto forcefully, "Can we move on to the official stuff?"

"What do you mean by that?" asked a dazed Stewart.

"I'm going to become the next leader of this village, I'm sure there's some sort of paperwork to fill out," said Naruto.

The Stewart realized introductions haven't been done yet and stretched out his hand, "I'm Ukinochi Masashi, the Stewart of this village."

Naruto accepted the handshake, "Uzumaki Naruto, the new Otokage" he said with a smile.

"I have heard that name somewhere before," said Masashi.

Naruto chuckled a little, "I'm popular… in a bad way though," the last part said with sadness.

At that point Masashi instantly figured out who he was talking to, "you're originally from the Leaf," Naruto nodded.

Just then the ANBU captain perked up, "you're that Missing-nin that was with Itachi during the Hyuga massacre," he stated.

"Sort of, but that story was a fake," the ANBU captain tilted his head in confusion, "the Hokage fabricated that story for political reasons." Naruto then told them the real story, making note of the interesting cross between fear and pride.

The Stewart then addressed Naruto in a more business-like tone, "so are you serious that you're gonna become the leader of this village?" in a slightly begging tone that Naruto instantly picked up on.

"Yes, why the sudden skepticism?" asked Naruto in curiosity.

"Well this village isn't in the best condition, doesn't have the best reputation…and I just thought that…" but before he could finish Naruto cut him off.

"So you thought that I would want to take over a better village," asked Naruto with a smile on his face and the Stewart nodded. "No this village is a lot better. This way I can shape it into anything I want. I would really hate to be the leader of a village that is so set in their ways that it takes a revolution to change anything."

"So you're gonna actually make changes in the village?" asked one of the younger ANBU. Naruto looked over at him silently asking for an explanation, "it's just that Orochimaru would never want to do anything, but raise more people for soldiers that he would then use in his war against the Leaf."

Naruto nodded in understanding, "well I'm not like Orochimaru…" Naruto then remembered his childhood, '_I guess I finally attained my dream… I will never make this village like Konoha though.'_

The ANBUs were dismissed and left Naruto and Masashi to talk about political and economical things concerning the village. Naruto assured Masashi that he could easily correct the relation between them and the Sand, the Leaf however was a whole other issue. The conversation continued well into the night, they had dinner brought up to them and Masashi arranged for a guest bedroom to be set up, which Naruto had finally gotten to by the middle of the night.

Waking up in the morning Naruto found that he was slightly happier than usual, '_am I looking forward to my new day job that much?'_ he wondered with a smile. He got up to the office and saw a note of the desk, "Otokage-sama, your robes have been made and are in the closet. I have relinquished my post since you are in charge now, I will come to get you for a tour of the village at 11 after which we will go to lunch."

Naruto went over to the closet and looked at his new robes, '_good they made a veil, I don't have to wear a face mask anymore'_ mused Naruto. After putting them on he noticed how they felt very much like the Akatsuki cloak. '_A tour of my village, then I'll start doing the administrative stuff… I really hope I don't have as much paperwork as the old hag,'_ Naruto caught himself reminiscing about his days in Konoha with a smile.

As promised at 11 sharp Masashi came in with several ANBU as an escort. Naruto had initially objected to the escort, but Masashi convinced him by saying that it would attract less attention to him as an individual if he went along with the customs.

During the tour Naruto was introduced to many important people in the village, Naruto however was introduced as the Otokage keeping his identity a secret. The Sound Village for the most part was falling apart, the market places were mostly deserted, grocery shops had little or no food, most of the civilians walked around in rags. '_This village is really in bad condition… I have a lot of work to do,'_ thought Naruto.

They stopped in the middle of the street to talk with an ANBU team that was doing some routine checks. During the conversation a wind blew and quivered Naruto's veil, unfortunately for him there was a certain Sound chuunin who had been watching him intently for some time now.

When the wind blew, for an instance it revealed the three very distinct whisker masks on the new Otokage's cheek, '_those can only belong to one person... Naruto..._' the Sound chuunin's expression darkened severely, '_that traitorous bastard... joining forces with that snake!_' The killer intent radiating off the Sound chuunin was small and barely noticeable to anyone except the one it counted with.

Naruto immediately felt it and turned his head to see his new found enemy. He saw a young Sound chuunin staring maliciously right at him. In that moment their eyes locked and flashed with recognition of each other. Naruto blinked and opened his eyes to see the Sound chuunin already running away, _'Shit! I can't let him get away!' _Naruto instantly used Split to leave his clone in his place while he disappeared to chase after the chuunin.

'_Damn it! He spotted me... if I'm caught I'm dead,_' thought the Sound chuunin as he raced through the alleyways of the Oto. '_I must also warn the others... Naruto has seen them all before and would most likely recognize them... but I can't do anything if I'm dead_.'

After about a minute of running, he looked back to see if he was being pursued and that was when he caught a foot to the stomach and an elbow to the head, which sent him into a wall. Before he could even recover, both his arms were locked behind his back and he was pushed down to the ground roughly with a knee pressing into his spinal column and a kunai resting at his throat.

"Thought you could run away from me... Konohamaru?" asked his attacker. Konohamaru remained silent, "that's alright," he continued, "I know all about the 'don't say anything if you're captured business'but that's what torture and interrogation specialists are for right?" Konohamaru winced knowing what was awaiting him. Naruto forcefully stood him up, "lets go," he pulled him along back to where Naruto had left his clone.

In several minutes they arrived at where the clone was still talking to the ANBU. Naruto made his clone disappear and temporarily scared the shit out the ANBU that were guarding him, until they caught sight of him coming out of the alley dragging some chuunin who he then knocked out. He walked up to the slightly confused ANBU captain, "captain send this _Sound_ chuunin to the interrogator," and handed over Konohamaru's body. The captain instantly understood what was going on and disappeared with the spy.

Masashi whispered to the Otokage, "this will boost your public opinion…" Naruto smirked slightly at that, '_though I'm sure he wasn't alone… means there are more rats in my village.'_

Throughout the rest of the tour Naruto along with Masashi and the other ANBU kept a lookout for other suspicious characters that took unnatural interest in the new Otokage and apprehended them for questioning. None of those had turned out to be spies, which was a good thing.

After the tour and lunch, Naruto returned to his office and started drawing up the plans for some of the things he had planned for the village. In a few hours an ANBU walked into the Otokage's office to deliver some reports, but before he left Naruto stopped him, "would you happen to know where is the spy that was caught this afternoon?"

"Yes Otokage-sama," responded the ANBU.

Naruto closed the folder in front of him and got up, "where is he?" the ANBU motioned for Naruto to follow him. They went down below the first floor of the Otokage tower, into the basement. There Naruto saw several interrogation rooms and cells, in one of which lay a body, which the ANBU said was the spy. Naruto acknowledged and dismissed him.

As he did so another jounin in a dark red cape approached him, "Greetings Otokage-sama, I am Ryouki the head of torture and interrogations," the jounin introduced himself.

"Hello Ryouki," said the Otokage, "I heard you already interrogated the spy," said the Otokage as more of a question.

"Yes Otokage-sama," answered Ryouki in a somewhat ashamed tone. Naruto looked at him pointedly. "I have not been able to get anything out of him," explained Ryouki, "he seems to be able to take anything we throw at him. Next we are going to be using an Oto-jutsu to shatter his mental resilience."

Naruto walked over to the cell with Konohamaru in it, "may I have several moments with him alone?" he asked.

Ryouki had a slightly worried look on his face, but obliged after a slight glare from the Otokage; he handed Naruto the key and left. Naruto walked into the cell and crouched down next to Konohamaru. "Long time no see, huh, Konohamaru-kun?" he asked in a pleasant tone, "made it to chuunin already I see."

Konohamaru looked up with pride and anger in eyes, "what do you want, traitor?" he spat out.

Naruto chuckled, "you're the traitor right now," he said calmly. "As for the Leaf, it was more like I was forced to leave… than anything else," the last part was said with a little sadness.

"Forced!? Bullshit! What about the Akatsuki?" exclaimed Konohamaru.

"They helped me out until I was able to stand on my own," said Naruto, "although some of the missions I would rather not have done."

"Like going with Itachi to kill the Hyuga? Betraying and killing your friends?" questioned Konohamaru, "you'd rather not have done THAT!?"

Naruto sighed, "The past is not a pretty picture. The future though will be a lot better."

"You bastard! By allying with that snake the future will be better?," continued Konohamaru.

"Allying?" laughed Naruto, "why would I ally with someone weaker than me?"

Konohamaru's eyes widened in understanding as he finally realized that he was dealing with the real Otokage and also that Naruto was now in a very dangerous position of power.

"I see that you understand now," said Naruto, "and I also see a little fear in your eyes, afraid of me are you Konohamaru-kun?"

"I'll never be afraid of you!" said Konohamaru forcefully.

"That little fear didn't disappear… you know what that means right?" questioned Naruto in a deadly calm voice.

Konohamaru was trying as hard as he could to project completely emotionless eyes, but couldn't. "What the hell are you talking about?" he snapped.

Naruto gave a low chuckle, "I'll explain it to you then; you're afraid for your friends." Konohamaru's face palled visibly; Naruto had hit the nail right on the head. "Just as I thought, Tsunade sent an entire team instead of individual members, am I right?" asked Naruto knowing full well that he wouldn't get a response.

He then stood up and gave a knowing chuckle as he was walking out. Konohamaru tried to attack him, but was very well restrained by the metal cuffs that were attached to the walls and the special jutsu binding his hands together so that he couldn't use jutsus. He yelled something at Naruto's back that sounded like "they are too smart for traitorous bastards like you," but Naruto didn't care. Eventually Konohamaru slumped back down to the ground knowing that it was futile and that he and his friends would probably be executed soon, '_I'm still not strong enough Grandpa…'_

Naruto got back to his office and sent for Masashi; who came several minutes later. "Masashi were gonna need to organize a rat hunt," said Naruto calmly.

"So that spy from the Leaf was not alone?"

"No, the Hokage must have sent a team," explained the Otokage.

"Any ideas on who it might be?" asked Masashi.

Naruto thought a little while, "another guy and a girl…" he said, "and I would probably recognize them if I saw them."

"Would you like me to get you files on all the chuunin we have?" offered Masashi.

"Yes and no," replied Naruto, "I would like a trusted jounin teacher to go through the files and find anyone even slightly suspicious. Then have those files sent to me."

"Yes, sir."

Naruto leaned back in his chair, '_lets hope that neither of them has gotten any information that I am the Otokage,'_ mused Naruto, '_the Leaf would absolutely flip out if they knew… and there's also a chance that they might use this change in management to attack and the way the village is right now, it certainly can't that kind aggression.' _Something suddenly hit Naruto, '_oh shit! I forgot completely about that place. If Leaf shinobi were to find it that wouldn't be very good at all.'_

Naruto looked outside to see that the sun had already set and the moon was halfway up. Naruto decided to take his leave saying that he had some personal things to take care of and he wouldn't like to be disturbed. His secretary said she understood and bid him good luck.

With that Naruto left the Otokage Tower and had soon snuck out of the village. Once on the outside he quickly made his way back to Orochimaru's lair. '_I need to check it out and see if there is something there that I can actually use,'_ mused Naruto while making his way into the underground compound. __

He made his way into the arena where he had fought Kabuto and Orochimaru, and went over to the ladder that he had seen Kabuto jump off of. He went up it and through a short corridor to find himself in a room with an operation table in the middle and a large console with many screens and keyboards on the far wall. '_This must be the control room…'_ concluded Naruto. He looked around until he found the blueprints for the compound, '_oh good… now I won't be randomly wandering around this tomb.'_

Naruto followed the blueprints and had eventually found the study, which contained scrolls about Orochimaru's techniques. "God damn it! Why do most of them have to be connected to snakes?" complained Naruto, "I can't use this unless I have a snake-summoning contract, which I can't get one since it would conflict with my foxes."

He continued to look through the scrolls until he found one that was booby-trapped, "why would anyone booby-trap their own scroll?" wondered Naruto as he activated Fire Wave in preparation for opening the scroll. When Naruto did open it, a large flame shot out and would have completely burned Naruto if not for his shield, '_trapping it with a Karyuu Endan, he really was insane,'_ thought Naruto de-activating the shield.

He opened it, his eyes widening as he read it, '_so this is how he did it, that sly bastard…'_ Naruto continued reading the extra description about the technique. When he was done he rolled it up, held it for a little while before throwing it up in the air and burning it with a Goukakyuu. "That technique is the definition of Necromancy; reviving the mindless dead for your own selfish purposes," mused Naruto. "If those creations didn't end up mindless, I would actual consider reviving Itachi, but…" Naruto sighed deeply, "some things are simply not possible."

Naruto ended up going through the entire compound twice making sure that there was nothing he had forgotten. However the second time, Naruto had set fire to each room. He then quickly made his way out and burned the outside of the snake-lair. He sighed contently knowing that he had done the world a favor by getting rid that snake. His thoughts drifted to his village, '_it would seem the only use Orochimaru had for the Sound village was war. Talk about inadequate leader…'_ Naruto chuckled and leapt up into the trees heading back to the Sound.

)))))Several Months Later(((((

During the week after Naruto had become the Otokage there were two spies caught, Konohamaru and Moegi. Their other teammate had managed to escape, but from what they managed to get out of Moegi it seemed that he had no idea who the new Otokage was. Both spies had been allowed to live and were now permanently residing down in the dungeons. This was very quite relieving for Naruto, who wanted to rule in secret for as long as he could; from the Leaf at least.

After cleaning up his new homeland, Naruto went on to resolve the relations between the Sound and all the villages except the Sand and the Leaf. He tried to keep his identity hidden to all of the villages, but some had found out; like the Snow and the Rain. What surprised Naruto was that they were actually happy that someone had finally been able to relieve Orochimaru of power over a ninja village and they didn't seem to care much for Naruto's image.

The Sand and Leaf were the only ones left now, '_I am not going to the Leaf… not yet. The Sand however would be much easier to establish connections with,'_ mused Naruto while filtering through the papers on his desk. '_My ambassadors, however, have told me that it is futile…'_ at this point Naruto realized that if he wanted to friendly relations with the Sand that he would have to go there alone. He informed Masashi of his plans, left him in charge and got ready to leave.

Going at a normal pace it took Naruto a week to reach the Hidden Sand. He simply snuck through the Sand's defenses and using the same false name he had several times in the revolution, he asked permission to speak with the Kazekage and was quickly allowed in.

He stood in front of the Kazekage's desk, "hello Temari."

"So you've come back, Naruto," she responded calmly.

"I guess you could say that."

"So what kind of business brings you here?" she asked reading through his ambiguity.

"You've taken after your brother, always getting straight down to business," he commented.

"Well as the Kazekage I don't really have time to chat."

"Understandable, anyway the reason I'm here… have you heard the news about the Sound?"

"If you mean that they have a new Otokage and that Orochimaru disappeared somewhere, then yes," she answered.

'_I see, so the Leaf must think the same thing… well I can definitely use that to my advantage,'_ contemplated Naruto.

"So what do you think of him?" asked Naruto, "the new Otokage that is."

"I don't know I've never met him," she replied somewhat annoyed, "he's visited all the villages besides the Sand and the Leaf. But I do have to say that what he has done for that village so far is really good, a definite positive change from their dark times of being rules by Orochimaru."

Naruto chuckled slightly at this, "well Orochimaru didn't really rule the village, he just used it for war," Temari nodded in agreement.

"It's too bad that Orochimaru managed to escape though," she said angrily, "I'd like to see that snake prosecuted for all the shit he's done."

"Well then, let me refine your story a little bit," said Naruto, Temari tilted her head a little bit in curiosity. "Orochimaru didn't just disappear, he's dead."

"What!? Impossible!" she yelled. '_Why wasn't this announced? This would have been great news… why keep it a secret?'_

She regained her composure again, "How is it that you know this?" she asked in a more calculating tone.

"Easy, I was the one that did it," replied Naruto calmly.

Temari nearly fell out of her chair, "y-y-you k-killed him?" Naruto nodded. "No way…" she suddenly remembered Gaara mention that Naruto left to find a suitable experiment, _'so this is what he meant… also explains why the death was kept secret, only a very few people in the world could kill Orochimaru.'_

An odd feeling stirred within Temari and she began scrutinizing Naruto, soon noticing faint outlines of a forehead protector underneath his jacket. Suddenly it clicked and her eyes widened, "You couldn't be…?"

Naruto chuckled slyly, "ever the perceptive one, Temari," he reached under his jacket and pulled out his Sound forehead protector and tried it around his arm, "there it's official."

Temari just gaped at him, '_this guy was able to take over a village in a few months… I knew that most people in the Sound hated Orochimaru, but this is amazing.'_

Naruto waited patiently for her to come out of her trance, "Listen Temari, you were right I didn't come here to just chit chat…" said Naruto in a business tone.

"You want to restore peace between the Sound and the Sand, right?" asked Temari.

"Yes," replied Naruto, "but just to clarify I only want peace, no alliances or anything yet… the Sound is not ready for those kinds of things yet."

Temari nodded in approval and they soon had the treaties signed and finalized.

"I would like to ask one last favor before I leave," said Naruto to Temari.

"What is it?" she asked curiously.

"Please keep the Otokage's identity a secret, especially from the Leaf."

Temari blinked, '_is he this paranoid about people knowing… well he technically is still a Missing-nin…'_ she contemplated for a few seconds. "Alright Otokage-dono, your secret is safe with me," she answered with a smile.

"Thank you Kazekage-dono," replied the Otokage. He bade goodbye to Temari, Gaara and Kankuro and once again left the Sand village on his track to the Sound Country.

"That guy is really something isn't he?" asked Temari.  
  
"Yea…" replied Gaara, "he did always seem like the type of person that would achieve his dreams… though I wonder if he will ever be able to make peace with the Leaf."

"I'm sure he will try his best," said Temari and walked back into her office.

)))))Back in the Sound Village(((((

Naruto was sitting in his office with a three newly written and sealed letters in front of him, waiting for the teams of ANBU to arrive. '_This is a difficult and tedious journey I'm sending them on… but somehow I feel like I owe this…'_ the first ANBU team walked in at that moment.

"You requested to see us Otokage-sama?" asked the captain.

"Yes," replied Naruto calmly, "I have an assignment for you," he handed the captain a letter. "You are to deliver this letter to a certain person, who lives on some island below the Mist Country."

"Meaning we have to find him too?" asked the captain.

"Yes, and before you ask his name is Hoshigaki Kisame," the ANBU were shocked. "I trust you know who I'm talking about then," said Naruto.

"Yes, but why do we have to deliver something to a Missing-nin?" asked another ANBU member.

Naruto's face hardened, "I give the orders! My reasons are classified," he said sternly.

"Yes sir," said the ANBU member in a shaky voice.

"One more thing when you find him, DO NOT engage him in combat in any way! Not even any potential hostility! Got it?"

"Yes Otokage-sama!" said the captain.

"Good, I don't want any of my shinobi to come back in boxes," said Naruto coldly. "You're dismissed!" the ANBU instantly disappeared. '_Well that's one…'_ though Naruto, '_the others are much harder…'_

Two more ANBU teams came up to see the Otokage and were also given assignments to find and deliver a letter; to Raiko and Miya. These teams however weren't given a location to search in, but more like possible places were these people could be. They were told to check in every two to three months for updates and were of course given the same warning. '_Kisame won't be that hard to find,'_ speculated Naruto, '_the others… if they find anyone it'll probably be Raiko…'_ Naruto stopped his train of thought and went back to his paperwork; there was still much to be done in the village.

It wasn't until two months later that his first ANBU team returned with a figure cloaked completely in black with a hood and a bandaged sword on it's back. Naruto dismissed the ANBU telling them to take some time off from work.

"Greeting Kisame-sensei," said Naruto.

The figure took off his hood and the top half of Kisame's head was clearly seen the bottom still covered by the cloak, but Naruto could tell that he was smiling, "long time no see Naruto," replied Kisame, Naruto nodded with a smile.

"Welcome to my humble home," said Naruto motioning to his office.

Kisame chuckled, "I had heard that Orochimaru was over thrown and there was a new Otokage, but honestly didn't expect it to be you."

"Well that wasn't my initial plan…" Naruto went on to explain what had happen with Orochimaru.

"I see," said Kisame, "you're not going to use this village for your revenge are you?"

"Hell no!"

"Good… Itachi wasn't that big on revenge anyway, you know?" asked Kisame and Naruto nodded. "So what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"How would you like to become a shinobi of this village?" asked Naruto.

Kisame's eyes widened a little bit, "And why would a Missing-nin like me want to become a proper shinobi again?"

Naruto smirked, "because then you wouldn't be hunted anymore. Not to mention that you probably didn't like all that 'peaceful living' you were doing."

"Actually it was really nice, no one hunting you… you can sit back and enjoy the finer things in life," said Kisame.

"You hated it."

Kisame turned his head away slightly, "… you're just like Itachi…"

"Yeah, it seems he did a good job teaching me to read people," said a smiling Naruto.

Kisame grumbled, "I'll think about your offer…"

"Of course, didn't expect you to make up your mind instantly," replied Naruto. "A room has already been prepared for you. C'mon I'll show you," Naruto walked him over to the Otokage's house, where a three guest bedrooms had been prepared. "Pick one and then we'll go to lunch," said Naruto.

The rest of the day Naruto and Kisame walked around the village catching up on old times and Naruto talking about the future of the village. By the end of the night, Naruto had convinced Kisame to stay in the village and he promised to arrange for an apartment for Kisame first thing in the morning.

The next morning Naruto called Kisame into his office, "could I ask a favor of you Kisame?"

"Well I am a shinobi under your control you know," replied Kisame.

"I'll always see as a friend not a subordinate," said Naruto.

Kisame smirked, "fine, fine I'll do you a favor."

"Alright, I need you to catch up to an ANBU team that is currently in the Rain Country and lead them on their search for Raiko."

"Are you trying to have some Akatsuki reunion or something?" asked Kisame.

Naruto laughed, "not really… it's just that I think that now I have something to offer, and you guys have done much for me, so…"

"Ah stop it kid, you're gonna make me cry…" he said wiping an invisible tear of his face.

Naruto waved his hand at him, "Aw shut up," he yelled. "Anyway will you do it?"

"Yea… I'm actually kind of excited to meet up with those guys again," said Kisame in a faked nostalgic voice. Naruto laughed and handed Kisame a map of the ANBU team's location; he took it and disappeared.

For about six months all the reports coming in were negative, not surprising Naruto much since he knew how well these two could fall off the face of the earth. What really surprised him was that Kisame's team had missed their last report, '_were they all killed or something?'_ wondered Naruto, then mentally scolded himself for such pessimism. '_No, there is probably a good reason for this,'_ he concluded.

There was a knock at the door and a chuunin entered the office saying that they just received a report that ANBU Beta Team was returning and that they would be back here sometime tomorrow. Naruto thanked him for the information and dismissed him, '_so they've found him… or I guess it could be her, but that's doubtful.'_

The next afternoon, Naruto was going through several papers about the new teachings that would be implemented in the academy and comparing some statistics sheets from different genin teams. He stopped sensing two presences in the room, one in front of him the other behind. He quickly did a single hand seal and teleported across the room all the while analyzing the very faint chakra signatures, '_these are so familiar… wait the slightly stronger one is Kisame… so that means.'_

He quickly did a dozen hand seals, "Crystallization," he said. Chakra rippled outwards from him and outlined the two people in the room.

"Still on your feet Naruto," said a feminine voice.

"I have to be, especially against people like you," he countered with a grin. Both figures disabled their jutsu, clearly revealing Kisame and Miya. Naruto smiled, "nice to see you again Miya," he said in a pleasant voice, "hope Kisame and the ANBU didn't give you too hard of a time."

"Yea, yea you're lucky I didn't kill them all," she smirked.

"Humph, but you like to think things through before engaging the enemy," remarked Naruto.

"True, and when I saw that Kisame was actually leading the ANBU, I decided to find out what was really happening. So what the hell did you drag me all the way out here for?"

"A little proposition," said Naruto.

"Let me guess, you want to become a shinobi of this village?" inquired Miya as more of a statement.

Naruto laughed, "you've already known that since they started 'dragging' you here, so what is your answer?"

"You know me too well, you know that?" she said somewhat sternly.

"I'm sure I'm not signing my death warrant yet," countered Naruto, "though by accepting you could get your death warrant nullified."

"What's the difference? I can keep hiding out like I've been doing for the past few years."

"I know I can't convince you to make a decision, so I'm gonna give you some time to think it over," said Naruto calmly. "There has already been a room prepared for you in the Otokage's guest house."

"Oh yes and Kisame," Naruto took out something from his desk and threw it at him, "these are the keys to your apartment."

"Thanks, but where is it?" asked Kisame catching the keys.

"Don't worry I'll have some chuunin show you," replied Naruto yelling for a messenger. Within a minute a chuunin came in and after several words with the Otokage, he walked over to Kisame and asked him to follow.

Once they were gone, Naruto turned back to Miya, "So nee-chan, want a tour of the village?" he asked in a sweet voice.

She quickly hit Naruto on the head, "I thought you learned better," Naruto shrugged, "anyway I would like a tour of the village, but not by some random shinobi who I don't know and might wish to kill."

Naruto chuckled, "Of course not, if I gave Kisame a personal tour you'll at least get that."

Miya narrowed her eyes, "I see how it is… and you expect me to stay in this village."

Naruto merely smirked, "Give me a few minutes to finish this stuff and I'll show you to the guest house and then we'll go on the tour," he sat back down at his desk and went back to his papers.

Miya looked at him curiously, "what are those for?" she inquired.

"New methods we're implementing in the academy," said Naruto without looking up.

Miya came up behind him and looked over his shoulder, "teaching academy students proper chakra control before they become genin," she said, "interesting tactic, I must say."

"You remember the academy?" asked Naruto and Miya nodded. "Well did that history and studying ever help you in the real world?"

"Yea I understand what you mean," she said with a smile.

"So you see, the kids lose over four years of potential training time," explained the Otokage, "and for what? To learn about some lords that have been dead for several centuries or about how a kunai or shuriken would 'theoretically' fly in a given situation." Miya chuckled remembering her childhood. "That kind of stuff you get by experience in the field not by sitting until your ass is numb in a classroom," Miya laughed at the last part and Naruto grinned.

"You might actually have some sense in this," she said jokingly. Naruto laughed it off and showed her to the guesthouse and later took her for a tour and dinner.

During the next couple of days Miya often visited Naruto in his office, mostly to watch how he was handling his new position of power. Naruto found the company quite pleasant and liked being able to talk over some issues with her. Occasionally jounin and chuunin would walk in to bring reports, most of which Naruto would simply skim and put into a pile on his desk.

However this latest report caught his eye, "hey Miya," he called.

"What is it?" she asked getting up from the couch.

"Do you happen to know where Raiko is?"

"You're searching for him too?"

"Yea… as Kisame said 'we're having a reunion'" replied Naruto.

Miya chuckled a little, "well that's gonna be a little impossible," she said.

"What do you mean?" asked Naruto seriously.

"Before you even think it, no he's not dead," Naruto visibly relaxed. "He's just left the ninja world."

"What do you mean by that?" Naruto was confused.

"He went home…" she replied.

"Went home?" asked Naruto, "He's from the Lightning Country, isn't he?"

"Well actually no he isn't," Naruto tilted his head in confusion. "He's actually from some village west of the ninja world," explained Miya, "he said that when he was an infant, his village was the location of a battle between some shinobi of the Cloud and Stone and that it was completely destroyed. His mother had managed to save herself and him, and the Cloud-nins took them to the Lightning Country."

"So he went back there, huh?" asked Naruto.

"Yeah, he said that in a city near his village, he might some relatives…" she answered.

"Going back to find family… I really wish him luck," said Naruto with a far away look on his face.

"…Yea…" said Miya uncertainly, "so there's no real way to find him now."

Naruto looked intently at her, "you know you could've told me that earlier," he said with disappointment.

"Well I'm sorry," she replied sarcastically.

Naruto quickly wrote a response to the report and called in a jounin, "I need you to deliver this to the ANBU team," he commanded. The jounin bowed and disappeared in a cloud of smoke; Naruto went back to looking at Miya intently.

"Hey you know I've always wondered," he said curiously, "what did happen with the Akatsuki?"

"You mean how did the Stone know where to go?" clarified Miya and Naruto nodded. "Well you see back then we, Raiko and I, were given orders to kill you."

Naruto's eyes widened, "kill me? Why?"

"Because as far the Akatsuki knew you had betrayed them, which wasn't that far from the truth was it?" Naruto shrugged. "Well anyway… they were so pissed off that Raiko and I didn't dare cross them. Once on the outside though, we agreed that we didn't want to kill you."

"But you couldn't just tell management that, so you figured out a creative way out of the Akatsuki?"

"Precisely," said Miya her almost glowing. "We figured that if the Akatsuki were gone then we wouldn't have to do anything. So we 'accidentally' dropped the map of the Akatsuki lair in the Tsuchikage's office… and the rest is history, as they say," she concluded.

"So then you just hid out for the next two and a half years?" inquired Naruto.

"We traveled together for six months. Finally splitting up in the Lightning Country after Raiko visited his late mother," the last part was said with slight sadness. "After that he decided to leave and I went into the Mist Country for a little over half a year."

"Ah… I see how it was…" said Naruto happy to have finally received closure about that one issue.

"So what did you think of Orochimaru?" asked Miya casually.

"Strong, but not too bad," replied Naruto, "then again he had a bad tendency of arrogance and underestimating people, so perhaps fighting Jiraiya would be harder."

Miya nodded, "every opponent is different, there is no one universal key to a battle," she said matter-a-factly.

"Yea, you taught me that," said Naruto, "though Jiraiya isn't my top priority right now."

"And what is?" questioned Miya knowing full well what the response would be.

"This village," replied Naruto in a serious voice. "I guess if the opportunity came along I would take it, but to actually go out looking for him... no I simply don't have time or desire..."

"I'm very glad to hear that," she said with a smile.

"So when are you leaving?" he asked looking over a mission report.

"Huh?" she asked confused, "What do you mean?"

Naruto looked up, "when are you leaving the village? You're not gonna stay here... like you said it's not your style."

Miya smirked, "well, I thought I taught you that styles change..." she said with a glint in her eyes.

Naruto looked at her completely surprised, "you're actually staying...?" she nodded, "the world must have frozen over," he mumbled.

"Hey!" she hit him in the shoulder, "Or am I not welcome here?" she spat out jokingly.

Naruto laughed and said, "no, no you're more or less welcome here..."

She pouted, "well then I guess I'll go back to my room, since I'm SO not wanted here," she said and walked off.

Naruto chuckled a little, '_she's still the same as when I first got to know her..._' his eyes glazed over thinking about the past.

Five months had passed since both former Akatsuki members joined the Sound village, both being right under Naruto in power and authority. All had been well except for the past month or so, something had been stirring in Konoha and even their top spies had no idea what it was. However staying in the darkness was not acceptable for Naruto and two weeks ago he had finally sent her in. Miya was, to put simply, the best when it came to espionage. Naruto knew that, unlike with his other spies, he wouldn't get regular updates, but rather receive the complete story when she returned.

So he waited patiently, knowing full well that Konoha's secrets were very hard to get to and would definitely require a bit of time. Over the last year the Oto had attracted much attention from many ninja villages. Several smaller ninja villages, even wanted to draw up alliances with them. Naruto was pleased, that his village was becoming economically stable and was attracting a lot more future shinobi than it had ever during its years under Orochimaru.

This of course had been frightening most people in Konoha, some even said that Orochimaru was still leading it, but just disguising himself in a different body. The Sannin had completely denied this, saying that the new Otokage's character was completely unlike that of Orochimaru. But Konoha has always needed a scapegoat for their problems and now, even though the Oto wasn't doing anything direct against them they still blamed them. However the Oto wasn't all that innocent, Naruto had specially arranged so that businesses were given better rates in the Oto than in the Leaf, but he was in no way planning any kind of military action against the Leaf.

Naruto pondered all of this while standing on top of the Otokage Tower overlooking his village. He felt a presence behind him and stiffened a little, old habits die hard, but relaxed when he realized who it was. She walked up and stood right next to him to watch as the sun set behind the fortified wall.

Once it was dark she finally spoke, "as the sun sets on the Sound, the black moon arises shining in it's own light."

Naruto grimaced, '_black moon…'_ he thought. It was an Akatsuki codename for bad or troubling information, however usually these black moons did not shine. What Miya had really said was "do you want the good news or the bad news, first?"

"Light," answered Naruto.

"Humph… it has nothing to do with the Oto," she replied, "or any other village for that matter."

'_An internal affair?'_ wondered Naruto, '_to attract so much attention and still be kept a highly confidential secret?'_ now he was really interested. "How full is it?" he asked, sticking to the Akatsuki terminology, where a crescent was horrible and full wasn't that bad.

"Thin-crescent… for you." she answered.

"And the group?"

"Half, as can be seen through the clouds."

Naruto sighed a low growl, "we need a better place to talk," he left heading to his office, Miya following not far behind.

They both sat down on the couch, Naruto looking intently at her waiting for the explanation. "The whole commotion is about a scroll," she finally said.

"A scroll?" asked Naruto in annoyance, "They've been raising hell for a scroll?"

She continued with something that immediately caught Naruto's attention, "not just any scroll, but the scroll that the Yondaime left…" she paused for effect. "for his son…"

"He left me a scroll!?" yelled Naruto jumping up.

"Yes, but that's not all," Naruto sat down to listen once more, "since you are a traitor and there is no way to reach you, some have been saying that they don't want the Yondaime's legacy to die and want to open the scroll."

"They want to what!?" Naruto growled.

"The Hokage has been able to keep them at bay so far, stating that it would be an invasion of privacy of one of Konoha's greatest heroes and also slightly mentioning that it had a very strong blood-seal on it," Miya continued explaining.

"I wonder what is inside?" he mused out loud.

"I don't know," she said in a disappointed tone, "I wanted to steal it for you, but I didn't even get a glimpse of its hiding place. It seems the Hokage really doesn't want it seen, much less opened."

"Hmm… I need to get my hands on that scroll, somehow" mused Naruto.

"I guess you could always trade," offered Miya.

"Trade?" asked Naruto, "What do I have to trade that Konoha would want?"

"How about the Sandaime's grandson? Who is still down in your dungeon," suggested Miya, "or that other girl."

"Huh… I completely forgot about them…" said Naruto. "The only problem is that they know who I am."

"It going to have to come out sooner or later you know that right?" Naruto nodded reluctantly. "I'm actually surprised you could hold out one year."

"Yeah, me too," said Naruto, his mind obviously pre-occupied with a different matter.

"Anyway… I'll leave you to your thoughts and go to the hot springs," she waved goodbye, which Naruto returned only by autopilot.

'_It's true that I can't hide the Otokage's identity forever… and trading Konohamaru for that scroll would work… but I can't have them finding out from him that I'm the Otokage…'_ Naruto contemplated on the best plan of action.

In the end he could only come up with one thing, '_I will have to meet with Tsunade, alone, and negotiate all this out…'_ Naruto concluded.

Knowing that he could not meet her in Konoha, it meant that he would have to arrange a special meeting place. He sat down at his desk and began writing in a scroll, which he later gave to a jounin to secretly deliver it to an Oto spy in Konoha. The spy would then make sure that it 'somehow' ended up on Tsunade's desk. In the scroll was named a location where to leave the reply.

A week later Kisame brought Naruto the reply, it said:

Uzumaki,

I will meet with you and you alone at exactly 9am on the specified date in the specified place.

Godaime Hokage.

'_So she's making this formal… I really doubt she will come alone though…'_ thought Naruto.

"Are you going to meet with her?" asked Kisame.

"Yes."

"She will not come alone, you realize?"

"Of course."

"You should also have someone accompany you then," offered Kisame.

"It's alright, I'll be fine," Naruto went to leave, but Kisame grabbed him by the arm.

"You know I'm not just doing this because you're the Otokage, I'm worried about you as a friend," Naruto nodded and Kisame continued, "and as a friend, I'm advising you not to go into this potential death trap alone."

Naruto was very reluctant, "Alright look, here's what I want you do…"

)))))Two Days Later(((((

Naruto was standing at the edge of the forest looking out over a mid-sized clearing. On the other side another figure was standing, also near the forest. As if by clockwork, both Naruto and the other figure started walking towards each other at the same time, finally coming to a stop leaving 15 feet between them.

"Long time no see Tsunade," said Naruto.

"Likewise… Naruto," answered Tsunade.

"You look a little older, your genjutsu must be slipping," he commented.

"Age takes its toll on everything," she countered.

"True, very true… since here we are, on opposite sides, facing each other."

"What happened Naruto?" inquired Tsunade.

"I will talk, but first…" he sniffed the air, "could you please have your escort come out…" the shock became even more clearly written on Tsunade's face as Naruto said their names, "Jiraiya, Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata."

* * *

I can just feel the murderous glares I'm getting for that cliffy.  
The next chapter resolves A LOT of questions that you ppl have. 


	17. The Meeting

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately). I do own all of my own characters.  
Thank you to all my reviewers!!! you ppl r so nice :-)

"blah" speech  
'_blah'_ thoughts

**blazer-6 **- wow, ur the first person that doesnt want a happy ending; i think you won't be disappointed.

**AkiaBinZaid** - that is just too flattering, but thank you. :-)

**bLack** - dude, I couldn't agree more. Your review is a nice and very welcome change from 'those' people.

**Peter Kim **- No dude, not how it's gonna happen.

**Shadow** - ... if I shoot myself, the story would just end right there :-/

**Kirara351** - appreciate the grammar help, I'm not really big on it.

**Snowy Yuki **- yes, and I will explain it in this chapter (or at least my version).

**blaboy** - you remembered, I'm pleased :-), anyway not next chapter maybe the one after, if not then the second to last chapter. You're right on track for the "Rookie 9" except Sasuke you're only a bit off, but don't worry I'll all be in this chapter.

**Kawaii34girl** - don't worry, I get worse threats...

**khinei** - glad you like my story! yaoi -shudders- I'm not gonna be writing that. Dangerous tensions? Damn right! "The major characters surrounding the main character" are important, but sometimes their death is also important. I'm up to the latest manga chapter.

**narutofan** - y did Naruto run low on chakra, b/c well kinjutsus use up A LOT of chakra; the lightning one for example uses up about 25 of Naruto's chakra. Everything has a limit... to the regular shinobi, Kyuubi's chakra is so big that it seems unlimited.

**Masaki** - in a good or bad way?

**ShadowGoddessInc** - thank you, it means a lot!

**Keizka** - I am not a perfectionist when it comes to grammar, as long as it makes sense I'm perfectly fine w/ it.

Sorry for the late update, but some of us have essays to write and midterms to study for.... and game addictions to satisfy...

* * *

Chapter 17 – The Meeting

"Don't look so amazed," said Naruto, "I was trained to detect ANBU and Hunter-nin... it was essential for my survival." Tsunade could understand that he would detect Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata, but for him to detect Jiraiya that was really surprising. "Well, come on out!" yelled Naruto looking at four distinct places in the forest behind Tsunade.

Tsunade gave a silent signal and the four named nins walked out and stood behind her. Naruto's eyes glistened, "so we meet once more," he said cheerfully. Sasuke scowled, Sakura and Hinata tensed, and Tsunade and Jiraiya remained completely calm.

Silence passed in the group.

Naruto's eyes slowly shifted from one Leaf-nin to another, examining them closely. Tsunade looked practically the same perhaps, though somewhat older. '_Age catches everyone._' Jiraiya was definitely older and seemed to be fighting hard not to slouch. '_He has definitely weakened...'_ Sasuke was wearing ANBU combat gear through which one could easily see that he was more muscularly developed, Naruto also noted that his chakra was larger. '_So he's grown since our last meeting.' _Sakura and Hinata were both wearing jounin vests that were noticeably stocked with weapons and scrolls, they both held an aura of self-confidence and much greater chakra reserve than last he saw them. '_They seem to be ready for battle... not a bad precaution.'_

"What's up with the mask?" asked Sasuke breaking the silence, "you think you're fooling anyone, dobe?"

Naruto simply ignored the nickname and chuckled, "I thought you'd recognize me better by the image you saw three years ago versus eight years ago," he simply stated, "among other reasons."

"We all know it's you," yelled Sakura with slight hatred.

"Fine..." Naruto slowly took off his mask to reveal much thicker whisker marks, but most shocking of all, two fangs protruding between him lips. "You like what you see?" asked Naruto sarcastically; all five Leaf-nin gaped at him.

"Naruto, why?" asked Tsunade in a caring tone.

"Why what?" asked Naruto, "Why did I run away? Why did I join the Akatsuki?" Tsunade and Sakura gasped, "Why did I come back three years ago and raise hell?"

Tsunade nodded dumbly, still shocked at the Akatsuki comment.

"Well let's start off, I'm pretty damn sure you know _exactly _why I ran away," said Naruto sternly.

Tsunade and Jiraiya both got a saddened look on their faces, '_seems what Itachi said was true...'_ thought Jiraiya.

"Then why join with the Akatsuki?" said Sasuke in obvious anger.

Naruto shifted his eyes to meet the Uchiha's, "you mean, why did I ally with your brother?" Sasuke's anger flared up and his sharingan activated. Naruto laughed, "I'll take that as a yes."

"You damned traitor!" yelled Sasuke.

"Much like you," countered Naruto and Sasuke scowled.

"I changed... I'll never be like Itachi," said Sasuke forcefully.

'_Damn right you'll never be like Itachi-nii-chan!'_

Naruto shrugged, "anyway I joined them because they were strong; they could train me," explained Naruto. Jiraiya was about to interrupt but was cut off, "and also because He recommended it..." Naruto gently tapped his stomach and smirked at the shock on Tsunade and Jiraiya's faces, the rest just looked around confused.

"Naruto, are you still in the Akatsuki?" asked Sakura in a much more timid voice than before.

Naruto sighed, "The Akatsuki was destroyed six months after the Hyuga assassination," said Naruto slightly annoyed.

"I know that!" she yelled, "But are you still with them?"

"Alright, you're asking whether or not I still travel with the former Akatsuki members?" Sakura nodded, "I will not answer that," Naruto concluded simply.

"What!?" yelled Sakura.

"I will not tell you where they are."

"That's not what I'm asking..." she started saying, but was cut off by Jiraiya.

"He knows that if he answers, he'll be giving out information about them, which may possibly lead Hunter-nin to them," explained Jiraiya and Naruto nodded. "But what are your relations to these former members?"

Naruto smirked, "they are good friends of mine."

"They should watch out," said Sasuke, "with how you treat your friends..."

"Ah, you're talking about the Jounin Exam," said Naruto. "Well... who ever said Kiba and Ino were my friends?" he asked in a cold tone visibly shocking Sakura and Hinata.

"Naruto, this isn't like you," said Tsunade, "what did the Akatsuki do to you?"

"Not like me, huh?" he thought a moment, "you mean, it's not unlike my happiness mask, to hate most everyone in Konoha?" he said with absolutely cold eyes, which startled the younger nins.

"I thought so," mumbled Tsunade, '_I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you, Naruto.'_

'_That one time when he was able to do the Rasengan, he felt like another person,'_ thought Jiraiya, '_my instincts were right...'_

"While training in the Akatsuki, I was able to drop my mask and I guess you could say, I became cold-hearted," said Naruto with absolute calmness.

"Naruto, did you ever kill anyone from Konoha?" asked Tsunade.

Naruto laughed, "I didn't discriminate, I killed everyone," answered Naruto. "Any ANBU of Hunter-nin that crossed my path, from any country. Survival was the only thing that mattered in those times."

"You're a murderer!" accused Sasuke.

"I'm survivor!" countered Naruto, "Can _you _take on a team of ANBU or Hunter-nin by yourself? Huh?" questioned Naruto forcefully. "You, with your fancy ANBU gear, can you take on your whole squad and win? Especially if you're fighting to the death!" Naruto started raising voice.

"You're still that seven year old kid trying to impress his parents!" said Naruto in a loud, but cold voice; Sasuke's eyes instantly went into his fully developed sharingan. "What's with the eyes!? You think just because you have Mangekyou I'm gonna be scared of you?" all the Leaf-nin looked over at Sasuke in surprise.

Sasuke was shocked, "H-How did you know?" he asked.

Naruto scoffed, "I spent five years with the best user of the Mangekyou, you think I can't tell?"

"Best user... I'll show you!" yelled Sasuke as he started activating his Mangekyou.

"Yes, show me, Sasuke-kun," said Naruto while calmly activating his Demon's Eyes preparing to use Hell.

Sasuke had activated Mangekyou and was trying to use Tsukuyomi, but found that Naruto wasn't even budging. Sasuke got angry and pumped more chakra into his eyes attempting to increase the effects, but Naruto was still calmly looking at him with those red eyes. Just when he thought he was getting somewhere, his world suddenly started getting blurry and become slightly reddish. He soon lost his balance and fell to one knee, deactivating the sharingan.

Everyone looked on in amazement as Naruto chuckled after somehow surviving a Mangekyou attack, '_Naruto, how did you...? I can't even do that,'_ wondered Jiraiya.

'_He has grown quite a bit,'_ concluded Tsunade, '_the scariest part being that he's most likely not even showing a quarter...'_

'_Naruto, you hurt Sasuke-kun again, but you're definitely not the same person I remember...'_

'_Naruto... strong as ever... but why did you use power like that?'_ Hinata thought, caught between admiration and hatred.

"Not bad, Sasuke," said Naruto. "A level two Mangekyou from a non-existent, in three years."

"Level two? What the hell are you talking about?" asked Sasuke still recovering.

"There are several levels for the Mangekyou," explained Naruto, "you have the second, your brother had the fifth."

Sasuke got a thoughtful look for a second, "but how were you able to resist it?" he proceeded to ask.

Naruto chuckled and met Sasuke's non-sharingan eyes with his Demon's Eyes and used only a second's worth of Hell Level 1 on Sasuke, causing him to become dizzy again and fall onto his side.

"My own jutsu can resist Mangekyou up to level four," he said calmly. "Demons are helpful beings you know?" he said with a smile that made a shiver run up Tsunade and Jiraiya's spine.

Sakura was instantly by Sasuke's side trying to find out what was wrong, "Sasuke-kun, are you alright? What happened? You're not hurt, are you?" she asked in a quick series of questions, which almost blended into one.

Naruto deactivated his Demon Eyes and shook his head in disapproval, "still the same old Sakura I see," he said, "Sasuke-kun this, Sasuke-kun that. You know how much that drove me up the wall!?" he growled.

Sakura looked up at his with angry eyes, "at least I care for my friends!" she half-yelled.

"Humph, so I suppose I wasn't your friend, is that right?"

Sakura immediately adopted a sad, regretful look when she remembered how she treated him. '_Who am I to talk about caring for friends...'_ she thought sadly.

She then remembered something, '_But he shouldn't be talking like that either,'_ she thought angrily. "What about Hinata? She was your friend and look what you did to her!?" she yelled at Naruto.

Naruto looked over at Hinata with slight regret in his eyes, '_I used her and ruined her life for a selfish reason...'_ he mused, but then remembered something. "Humph, her family was a bunch of assholes anyway..."

"They were still my family!" yelled Hinata. "I would never have wished death upon them!"

"Then, I am sorry," he bowed, "but it was my mission... orders... I'm sure you understand how that works."

"Orders!? You did it all just to complete a mission?" asked Hinata frantically; he nodded. "Even... even..." she looked down at the ground and her voice lost its intensity, "I didn't really mean anything to you, did I?"

Naruto sighed, "If you're referring to some of the things I said before the assassination, then no, I did not mean half of what I said..." he answered bluntly, confirming her worst fears. "The truth is, I overheard you on talking on the wall and decided to seize the opportunity and end the mission. I felt bad for my actions, so once I was inside the Hyuga Manor, I spared your life by knocking you out instead of killing you."

Hinata shook; her worst nightmares were coming true right in front of her. He did not love her; she had been used, just like the surviving Hyuga had told her. After all this time of believing that Naruto-kun was still the same kind-hearted, loving genin in her memories, she was proven wrong.

Love turned to anger, fury and hatred... "Naruto," she growled, "you truly are a demon like I've heard people say in the village. I didn't want to believe it, I loved you!" Hinata was yelling now. "I never believed anything the villagers said about you, but it looks like they were right... in the end..." she looked up at him with angry eyes, from which poured tears of heartbreak.

Sakura suddenly realized that Hinata was right; she had also heard the villagers call Naruto a demon, "Why did they call you that, Naruto? How did they know you were so cold-hearted?"

Naruto looked at Tsunade incredulously, "you mean you didn't tell the children that favorite bedtime story that I grew up with?"

Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata looked at Tsunade questioningly; she simply answered no.

"Well then I'm going to have to remedy that," Naruto said calmly.

"Naruto, are you sure you want to do this?" asked Jiraiya concerned that the current level of tension would get even worse.

"Of course, Jiraiya, I'm completely comfortable with it..." replied Naruto.

'_He's actually going to tell them The Secret...'_ thought Tsunade in amazement.

"Well then, once upon a time there lived the great Yondaime Hokage..." started Naruto.

Sakura blinked, '_Why is he starting the story there? Could he...?'_

"He lived a nice peaceful village called Konoha, that is, until a great fox demon appeared; The Kyuubi. Now truth be told, Kyuubi had just awoken from a thousand-year sleep and what does he find right in the middle of his territory? A village. Full of people that attempt to control some of the elements and attack him as soon as they see him."

Naruto paused to judge the reactions. '_Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata are shocked of course... soon they'll be even more shocked... Tsunade and Jiraiya seem kind of interested in the Kyuubi's perspective on this fine tale, but disbelief is also apparent.'_

"So he did the same thing you would do if you found a stranger in your house; he attacked. Now, several days of battle passed; the body count kept rising, so finally the Yondaime Hokage appeared on top of Gamabunta and engaged the Kyuubi. After quite a struggle, the Yondaime started the sealing technique: Shiki Fuujin. He ended up ripping the Kyuubi's soul out of its body and sealing it into a new born child... any guesses on who that might be?" asked Naruto upon finishing his story.

Shock, disbelief, and anger mixed with jealousy were on Sakura, Hinata and Sasuke's faces, respectively.

"Naruto, you...?" Sakura couldn't formulate a proper question. Naruto nodded in response. "No way..." she trailed off.

"Naruto, so this is where you got all you power," Sasuke stated. "And you told me never to rely on my cursed seal, you goddamn hypocrite!" he yelled.

Naruto sighed sadly, "those were different times, Sasuke, I was still trying to live in an ideal world, which didn't hate me..." explained Naruto.

"Naruto, we never hated you," said Tsunade.

"By 'we' you mean: you, Jiraiya, Iruka and Hinata," he stated. "No, sorry, those odds are too small for me to like the village as a whole." Tsunade sighed regretfully.

"So that is how you were able to beat me eight years ago," said Sasuke, "and you used the same power three years ago..." Naruto nodded slowly not really understanding where the Uchiha was getting with this. "I will kill you!" he yelled.

Tsunade gave Sasuke a very harsh look, "what the hell do you think you're saying!?"

"He's a traitor and a murderer," replied Sasuke, "I will get my revenge..."

"Are you stupid?" yelled Jiraiya, "Do you want to turn him into an enemy?"

"He already is," countered Sasuke.

"Ku-ku-ku, for who are you doing it, Sasuke?" asked Naruto, completely calm. "I know you didn't care for any of the Hyuga, so for who? Kiba? Ino? Or just because?"

"For Lee," he answered.

"What?" inquired Naruto completely confused, "Just because I beat him?"

"He's dead because of you!" yelled Sasuke.

Naruto looked over at the others in confusion; their expressions only confirmed Sasuke's words.

"No... That's impossible..." said Naruto slowly, "that attack doesn't kill..."

"How do you figure?" asked Tsunade.

"Well the technique just knocks the person out," explained Naruto. "Well for Lee, it was combined with a paralysis technique that took out his lower back... I don't see how those two would have killed him."

"Sasuke does not lie," said Tsunade, "Lee is dead."

"He did have other wounds... if they were to..." mused Naruto in a whisper. "Is it possible that he was treated using chakra healing?" Naruto asked Tsunade.

"That is how almost all healing is done now," answered Tsunade, "especially post-battle treatments."

"Well that could have done it..." said Naruto.

"How do figure on healing techniques killing people?" asked Sakura.

"Hinata, what happens if a tenketsu is closed, but chakra is constantly getting pumped to it?" asked Naruto.

"It ruptures," she answered somewhat coldly.

"The pressure point that I used to knockout Lee is in the same place as the cerebellum tenketsu," Naruto explained further.

"So you're saying that when the medic-nins used chakra to heal him, they were actually overloading that particular tenketsu?" asked Sakura.

"Yes, I remember injuring his back and chakra travels very well up the backbone..."

"So are you trying to shirt the blame now?" asked Sasuke fiercely.

"Shift the blame?" wondered Naruto, "I am merely proposing a logical explanation for what happened."

"By saying that it's not your fault?" countered Sasuke.

"It isn't!" shouted Naruto, "How the hell was I to know they would use chakra to heal him? His wounds weren't that bad anyway, and he would have become conscious within two days."

"It is still your fault!" yelled Sasuke.

"You're hopeless," said Naruto, "maybe I should have used the Kyuubi's instincts instead of listening to your brother when it came to killing you..."

Jiraiya's jerked up, "you can talk to it!?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Yes, I could..."

Tsunade tilted her head slightly, "you could?"

"Yes, he's gone."

Jiraiya's eyes widened, "what do you mean 'he's gone'?"

"Doesn't _anyone_ know how that seal was designed?" Naruto received completely confused looks. 'I_t's in their own Scroll of Seals and they are completely oblivious...'_ he sighed. "The seal was designed to absorb the Kyuubi after a period of time," explained Naruto.

"And exactly when did this happen?" inquired Tsunade.

"Several months before the jounin exam," replied Naruto calmly.

"But during the Hyuga assassination I felt its chakra," said Jiraiya.

"I can use his powers as if they were my own," explained Naruto; Tsunade and Jiraiya gasped. "They come in handy for hunting purposes," he smiled coyly.

"Oh yes, that reminds me, do you know what happened to Orochimaru?" asked Naruto.

"He's gone into hiding," answered Jiraiya, "even I can't find him."

"Really?" asked Naruto slyly.

Tsunade instantly caught on to his tone, "Naruto, what do you know about that snake?"

"Uh-uh-uh, not so easy, Tsunade," said Naruto with a fox grin, "I'm not just going to tell you."

"Then what do you want?" she asked, hoping for some sort of compromise.

"A certain scroll you have."

"A scroll?" asked Tsunade. "What scroll would you want?" '_Is he really going to ask for the Scroll of Seals?'_ thought Tsunade.

"The scroll belongs to me..." said Naruto cryptically.

Jiraiya started to catch on, "are you referring to your father's scroll?" he asked skeptically.

"Yes, and it belongs to me."

Tsunade's eyes narrowed, "it is the property of the village... but how is it that you know about it?"

Naruto smirked, "I have my ways of finding these things out and property of the village my ass! It has my name on it!" he said forcefully. "You know, from: the Yondaime, to: Uzumaki Naruto."

"WHAT!?" yelled Sakura and Hinata; Sasuke was just taken back.

"You heard correctly," said Naruto.

"How did you know?" asked Jiraiya.

"Someone had the _decency_ to tell me," said Naruto with his eyes narrowed in resentment.

"You weren't ready for that kind of information eight years ago," replied Jiraiya.

"Oh yea, and believing that my parents were absolutely insignificant was much better," countered Naruto sarcastically.

"Back then you'd brag about everything, so we couldn't trust you with that kind of information," responded Jiraiya.

"No! I would have taken it to heart. I was a lot more mature than anyone here will ever know."

"Look, Naruto, I'm sorry that I did not tell you, and that I underestimated you," said Tsunade.

Naruto sighed, "That doesn't really matter," he said. Then after a pause, "how about a trade?"

"Trade?" wondered Tsunade.

"Yes, the scroll for information about the Snake Sannin," offered Naruto.

"How can we be sure you won't lie to us?" questioned Sakura.

"You'll have to trust my word."

"Humph, your word isn't good anymore," scoffed Sasuke.

"He's right," said Jiraiya, "you've broken a couple of your promises already."

"Yea, like _protecting_ your friends," added Hinata.

"I haven't killed you yet, have I? Plus the only people, from the Leaf, that I truly consider my friends are: Iruka, Tsunade, and maybe Jiraiya and Hinata."

"What do you mean 'maybe'?" asked Jiraiya.

"You did kill Itachi-nii-chan, so my friendship with you is a bit unstable," explained Naruto. Jiraiya scowled at the 'nii-chan' part and Sasuke glared at Naruto.

Tsunade tried to change the subject and break the arising tension, "You give us the information and then I'll give you the scroll," offered Tsunade.

"You're actually going to bargain with a traitor?" questioned Sakura.

Tsunade noticed the disrespectful look on Sasuke's face, "DO NOT question the Hokage!" she glared at Sasuke and Sakura, who cowered back in fear.

Naruto smirked at the display of power while contemplating Tsunade's offer, '_I trust the old hag, but if they hear that he's dead more questions will arise... and worst case scenario they'll figure it out, and it'll be like trading with the enemy... but if worst comes to worst, I do have something to fall back on...'_

"Alright, I'll tell you," responded Naruto, "but first I need to see that you actually have the scroll."

'_He's definitely wised up,'_ though Tsunade, '_good thing I brought the scroll...'_

"Fine," she pulled the scroll out of her pocket and showed it to Naruto, who activated his enhanced sight to make sure it was the right one. After briefly activating his Demon Eyes and not finding any genjutsu around the scroll he nodded in approval.

"You may think that Orochimaru disappeared off the face of the earth two years ago," Naruto paused a little, "and you are absolutely right."

"What the hell do you mean by that!?" yelled Jiraiya.

"Isn't it obvious?" seeing the confusion on their faces, "He's dead."

"Impossible!" said Sasuke matter-of-factly.

"Why? Because _you_ can't kill him?" asked Naruto coldly.

"Because only another Sannin could match him in power," replied Sakura.

"Itachi outmatched him in power," stated Naruto.

"He had the sharingan to his advantage," countered Sakura.

"So you don't believe me?" asked Naruto.

"Hell no!" answered Sasuke and Sakura at the same time.

"I wasn't asking you," said Naruto looking at Tsunade.

"Do you have proof?" Tsunade finally asked.

Naruto sighed regretfully, "no I don't have any evidence," he noticed Sasuke was going to say something and decided to continue, "his lair was burned down soon after his death... and his head disposed of several months later."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, "you know too much," he said in a low voice.

"True, Naruto, how do you know all the details?" asked Jiraiya suspiciously.

Naruto shifted his eyes away from the Leaf-nin and sighed, "is it not obvious?" he asked quietly. He heard a 'huh?' from someone, and grew out his claws holding his right hand in front of his face, "foxes hunt snakes, don't you know?"

Sakura and Hinata gasped while the others were just taken aback, "Y-You k-k-killed him?" asked Sasuke uncertainly.

Naruto continued to stare off into space while answering, "he was supposed to be just a test..."

Tsunade's eyebrows shot up, '_Taking on that snake as a test!?'_

"My real objective, at the time, was Jiraiya," Jiraiya twitched slightly. "At the time, I wanted revenge... revenge for Itachi, but I doubted my powers since Itachi had always been able to best me... so I needed a trial run, someone with as much strength as Jiraiya. One of the Sannin was an immediate choice. However, since attacking Tsunade was the same as war on the Leaf, I went after the last remaining Sannin."

"What I don't understand, is why you didn't come after me two years ago?" asked Jiraiya.

"I was... pre-occupied..." replied Naruto with a slight smile.

"Killing people, I suppose," said Sasuke.

"Only you can be so blinded by rage and revenge that you don't see anything around you," countered Naruto.

"What the hell do you know!?" yelled Sasuke.

"I know quite a bit... I know that your brother didn't want you dead," Sasuke was taken aback. "Rather he wanted you to be able to see through the image..."

"Image? What image? That he's a bloody murderer!?" yelled Sasuke.

Naruto sighed, '_so stupid for a genius...'_ he thought. "It is your duty to figure it out, I can't give you all the answers," he said in a calm tone.

Sasuke growled, "You talk like you know everything. You know nothing!"

"Your brother told me everything, Sasuke-kun," said Naruto with a cold demeanor, "more than you than you see in your worst nightmares."

At that point Sasuke couldn't handle it anymore and charged at Naruto with his sharingan blaring. He went to punch Naruto, but Naruto dodged, however Sasuke's sharingan predicted where Naruto was going to go and Sasuke instantly sent a kick at that place. Unfortunately for Sasuke, Naruto was used to this, so before the kick could connect Sasuke felt a sharp in his kidney and immediately felt that he was being thrown back by a kick to the stomach.

Tsunade had watched as Naruto countered Sasuke's sharingan by creating a clone behind Sasuke, without using any hand seals and thus fooling the sharingan. '_Not surprising for someone that trained under a sharingan master?'_ she thought.

Sasuke was pissed off, but was now being held firmly by Jiraiya. "You idiot, don't you see that he can easily kill you?" yelled Jiraiya right in Sasuke's ear.

Naruto glared at Sasuke for a moment then returned his gaze to Tsunade, "My scroll, if you will," he requested in a calm tone.

"Don't give it to him!" yelled Sakura running up to Tsunade, "Not after what he did to Sasuke-kun!"

"That bastard attacked me, I merely defended myself," said Naruto while glaring at the pink haired girl.

"You provoked him," said Hinata coldly.

"By telling him the truth... perhaps," he said calmly, "but as a shinobi he needs to keep his feeling in check."

"You did it on purpose and you know it," said Tsunade, making a move to put the scroll back in her pocket.

Naruto's eyes narrowed, "my half of the deal is done," he said in a half-growl, "now pay up!"

Naruto's eyes glimmered red when Tsunade completely removed the scroll from view, "what the hell do you think you're doing, Hokage!?" asked Naruto enraged.

"You are not the Naruto I once knew... and certainly not one worthy of any kind of sympathy from me," asked Tsunade coldly.

"Sympathy!? Sympathy!?" Naruto spat out. "Who the hell asked for _your_ sympathy?"

Naruto had to calm himself a little bit, "I came here for a simple talk of neutrality and to get back my belonging," he paused to study Tsunade, who still had her cold demeanor on. "We made a deal... are you as the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf going to disrespect your word?" he asked, trying to play the honor issue.

Tsunade smirked coldly, "I am not obliged to anything when dealing with traitorous scum."

Jiraiya had always been optimistic that Naruto was not evil and could be made into a friend of the village once more, so he was shocked that Tsunade had turned her back on Naruto. Sasuke, on the other hand, saw this as an opportunity to escape and broke free of Jiraiya's hold. He jumped to the side and started going through the hand seals for the Chidori.

Naruto's eyes darkened when he noticed that Tsunade was doing nothing to stop Sasuke. He looked at the Hokage with a slight glimmer of hope, "if he goes through with this I will take it as an act of war," he gave his ultimatum.

"I never should have agreed to this meeting in the first place," uttered Tsunade just before the deafening screech of the Chidori overrode all other sounds in the region.

As Sasuke was rushing towards him, everyone clearly saw Naruto's eyes almost completely drain of color. Just as the Chidori was about to make contact, Sasuke was thrown back halfway across the clearing, and a large dust cloud appeared on either side of Naruto.

When it cleared Leaf-nins saw three Sound-nins and a former Akatsuki member and Missing-nin from the Mist, Hoshigaki Kisame.

"It sounded like you were in trouble, Naruto," said Kisame.

"Well, they did basically declare war..." replied Naruto.

"What ever happened to coming alone?" questioned Sakura, sounding betrayed.

"You didn't follow the rules either, so don't question me, bitch!" Naruto said coldly; pissing off Sakura.

Naruto drew his sword and pointed it at Jiraiya, "looks like we are well matched..."

* * *

If even after this chapter somebody asks me for NaruHina... it's not gonna be pretty! 

Next chapter may be out quicker, or it may be not... it all depends... but I find an action chapter easier to write.

Let's make this official: this story will have 21 chapters


	18. Battle of Understanding

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately). I do own all of my own characters.

Thank you to all my reviewers!!! you ppl r so nice :-)

"blah" speech  
'_blah'_ thoughts

**blaboy** - kind of; i'm considering it... That's right no NaruHina. (I think it's a bit over-used and IMO it's getting bland)

**Monaki-cheung** - this chapter was intended to be all dialogue and as for ur request, plz wait a little...

**Third Degree Run** - they only know that he's killed Orochimaru, some may be guessing, but it's not a fact that's on the table.

**HikaruOfArrow** - if u really want it then vote for it; the polls have opened.

**Perverted-senin** - exactly right!

**bLack** - Woman!!?? Who the hell ever said I was a woman!

**tyranimo** - that won't be revealed for a few chaps

**gopher guy** - yes ur allowed to make suggestions, but I control the hammer and nails that will be used to seal the coffin. Falling back on Konohamaru: plans change... plus Naruto didn't just come back for the scroll... I'll explain below...

**Death's little side kick** - The WHOLE FIC!!!??? DAMN!!!

**kagehana** - oh dont worry its not you i'll be killing...

Really sorry for the exceedingly long wait, but I've been very busy with college studies. Plus a bit of not in the moodness and a mental block where I just couldn't write what-so-ever... but enough w/ my excuses...

Sequel? Well you see, I already have another story planned (Actually I'm doing quite a bit of pre-production for it already).But how can u ask for a sequel if u don't know how its gonna end?

NaruHina!? You ppl really want to taste blood, don't you? -sigh- Sorry, but I warned ya...

_**VOTE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE CHAPTER!!!!!  
**_

* * *

Chapter 18 – Battle of Understanding 

The sword in Naruto's hand vanished, re-appearing back in its sheath. Naruto instantly got into a loose stance, getting ready to attack Jiraiya.

"Don't underestimate me, dobe, you'll need that sword of yours," said Sasuke and charged at Naruto. However before he could completely make it to Naruto, he was intercepted by a Sound-nin with a large scar across his forehead. Sasuke stopped where he was and glared at the Sound-nin, "what the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked vehemently.

"You opponent is me," declared the scarred shinobi.

"What the hell?" growled Sasuke and tried to get around the Sound-nin, but forced back once more. "Fine. Prepare to die!" yelled Sasuke as he charged at the scarred shinobi.

Sasuke executed several kicks and punches that were all blocked. He let his anger get the better of him and slipped up in his defense, so the Sound-nin was able to land a kick in Sasuke's gut and send him flying back.

In mid-air Sasuke was trying to calm himself, '_I cannot let my emotions control me,'_ he thought, '_just concentrate on your objective… killing your opponent.' _He breathed out a steady stream of air and flipped himself over, at the same time throwing three shuriken at his opponent.

The Sound-nin pulled out his kunai, "do you really think a couple of shuriken will help?" he asked as he prepared to block them.

Sasuke smirked and formed a single hand seal, the Sound-nin's eyes widened, 'S_hit! I've seen Otokage-sama use that jutsu once.'_ Sasuke channeled some chakra and said, "Kage Shuriken no Jutsu," making the three shuriken into thirty. The Sound-nin was forced to put away the kunai and run through a quick set of seals, he then placed his palms on the ground and said, "Doton: Earth Wall no Jutsu."

As planned, the wall stopped the projectiles, but Sasuke was nowhere to be seen. The Sound-nin looked around, his senses on high alert, but still couldn't find his opponent. Just as he started thinking that his opponent had once again started to pursue the Otokage, a hand shot out from the ground, "Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu" (Inner Decapitation) was heard as the Sound-nin found himself being pulled down.

Once the Sound-nin was buried up to his neck, Sasuke got out of the ground and put a kunai to the Sound-nin's throat. However, as soon as he pressed into his opponent's skin, it started crumpling, '_what the hell?'_ questioned Sasuke. He then punched his opponent's head, only to have it crumble into dirt, '_Damn it! I can't believe I fell for that,'_ Sasuke scolded himself.

This, of course, was no time to relax, as Sasuke suddenly felt a presence very close behind him and unfortunately didn't have time to dodge or block as a fierce kick was delivered to his side. Leaving him with very little time to recover before another onslaught of kicks and punches was sent his way.

Sasuke was getting annoyed again and activated his sharingan to be able to easily block and counter his opponent's attacks, not to mention copy his jutsus. Instantly, Sasuke was able to see his opponent's next attack and was able to dodge and instantly deliver a fierce punch right under his opponent's arm. Afterwards, Sasuke immediately elbowed the Sound-nin in the chin and kicked him into a tree.

The Sound-nin stood up and looked right into Sasuke's eyes, he gasped when he saw the sharingan; Sasuke smirked at his reaction. Before the Sound-nin had time to recompose himself, Sasuke did a few very quick hand seals and slammed his palms on the ground, "Doton: Land Bind no Jutsu," said Sasuke.

The dirt under the Sound-nin's feet rose up and wrapped itself around his feet tightly, holding him in place. Sasuke did several more hand seals and held his left arm slightly away from his body as chakra started to appear all around his left hand, "Chidori!" he cried and dashed at his opponent.

The Sound-nin did a few hand seals and bent down to the ground, "Doton: Doroku Gaeshi," he said (A/N: Earth Wall Land Flip). The Sound-nin happily realized that Sasuke would be unable to alter his path and would be forced to hit the wall instead.

Sasuke saw the wall and scoffed lightly, '_the Chidori will easily go through that,'_ he thought as he increased his speed.

The Chidori impacted the earth wall with a loud explosive sound and immediately ate straight through the wall and continued on to the Sound-nin. '_What!?'_ yelled the Sound shinobi in his mind. Sasuke's sharingan eyes narrowed as he saw his opponent gather a small amount of chakra. It didn't matter, though, as the Chidori hit the Sound-nin a second later.

However, instead of blood flying in all directions, a poof was heard and the Sound-nin disappeared in smoke to be replaced with a log.

"Kawarimi," mumbled Sasuke.

"Yes," came the reply from behind Sasuke, "sometimes the basics are a major help."

"Hmph," was the only thing heard from Sasuke. The Sound-nin started to make hand seals, but before he could even get the second one done, he felt a presence very close to him. He turned to look and the last thing he saw was Sasuke stabbing him with a kunai straight through the neck.

"…But mostly, basics are useless," concluded Sasuke, and let the body fall.

Meanwhile with Naruto:

As they split, Naruto forced Jiraiya to the corner of the meadow, so as not to involve anyone else.

"After three years, we finally meet on the battlefield," said Naruto.

"Naruto, you don't have to do this," said Jiraiya, "we can work things out… I can talk to Tsunade…"

Naruto cut him off, "and say what? She obviously hates me. I saw it, through all her genjutsu, I saw that hatred hidden deep inside."

Jiraiya sighed and shook his head lightly, "I can't say you don't deserve it, Naruto," he said softly. "First you leave and join the Akatsuki," noticing the slight surprise on Naruto's face he clarified, "yes, I found out you were in the Akatsuki about a year after you joined. I told Tsunade, but no one else, we gave you the benefit of the doubt and assumed that they forced you. But then, you go and do something as horrible as the Hyuga massacre. Do you know how much chaos you caused?"

"I can guess," calmly responded Naruto.

"Over the years, she's grown more and more wary of you. Trust being replaced by hatred… you betrayed her, Naruto. Now that you… hold a high position in the Sound, who are sworn enemies of the Leaf," Naruto's eyes narrowed at this new information.

"You've spying on me haven't you, Ero-Sennin?" asked Naruto.

"We had been getting reports on the Sound from a team inside for a year before two members vanished without a trace. That was a year ago, just as the new Otokage came to power," explained Jiraiya.

Naruto scoffed and smirked darkly, "you want to know whether or not Konohamaru and Moegi are dead or not," Naruto stated, "and not only that, but you want to know who the Otokage is because that is a vital piece of information that you have been unable to get, am I right?"

Jiraiya stared at Naruto with a raised eyebrow, '_this definitely isn't the Naruto I once knew. To be able to see through me like this…'_ Jiraiya contemplated his next move. "Will you be so kind as to answer then?"

Naruto laughed lightly, "I will say that they are not dead… yet," Jiraiya stiffened at the last part. "But you also wonder what part I play in all this," stated Naruto and Jiraiya nodded. "Let's just, spoils to the victor," said Naruto with a slight smile.

"Either way…" Naruto suddenly dashed forward and punched an unsuspecting Jiraiya in the stomach, "this battle will continue."

'_Damn it, should have expected that,'_ the sannin scolded himself. He mentally kicked himself into battle mode and was successfully able to block or dodge all of Naruto's punches and kicks. Once he saw and opening, he hit Naruto in the stomach and sent him flying back, however he noticed that Naruto flew back farther than he should have. '_He purposely left that opening, so that he could use the momentum from my punch to get farther away… that means a long-range attack!'_

As soon as Jiraiya thought that, a lone shuriken was sent at Jiraiya. Once it was very close Jiraiya, it multiplied into several hundred. However, Jiraiya had expected that and had left a Bushin in his place while he crossed the battlefield to where Naruto would land.

'_That pervert won't fall for the shuriken, so instead of Kage Bushin I'll make it regular Bushin and,'_ he quickly did some hand seals, '_I'll set up a little something for him.'_

As soon as Jiraiya landed, he felt very strong winds around him. At the same time, Naruto got the final fix on Jiraiya's location and activated his jutsu, "Tornado," he whispered. The winds around Jiraiya started spinning wildly, and instantly began tearing his clothes apart. With his plans foiled Jiraiya did the only thing he could; raise a Fuuiton-ninjutsu defense.

Naruto smirked, '_good, now I've got you right where I want you,'_ he formed several hand seals, '_Quicksand,'_ he tapped his foot.

Jiraiya thought he was temporarily safe within his Wind Barrier, when suddenly he felt himself sinking, '_what the hell?'_ He looked down and saw that the ground beneath him had turned into quicksand. He tried to use chakra to oppose the effects only to find that he began sinking faster, '_this is the Sand Village's special Resistance Quicksand…' _concluded Jiraiya. He then released his Wind Barrier, but was surprised that Naruto's wind attack was still going, '_the kid's good, to be able to hold two different types of ninjutsus going at the same time.'_

Even though his instant reaction was to avoid the attack, Jiraiya smirked and let the Tornado hit him. The Tornado did make several cuts and scratches on Jiraiya, but the force of its attack also ripped Jiraiya out of the quicksand.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, '_using my own attack to help himself, albeit getting cut a little bit, but it's worth the sacrifice.'_ Just as Naruto released both jutsus, he heard the unmistakable sound the Chidori. Looking over at the source he couldn't help but curse, '_Damn it! Hirotaro is not suited to fight the Uchiha… that wall won't stop the Chidori…'_

While Naruto was distracted Jiraiya had enough time to recover. He quickly summoned a toad that was twice his size and had two katanas.

Naruto was brought back to his own battle by the sound of swords being drawn and the slight shaking of the ground, turning to look he saw a large toad charging at him dual-wielding katanas. '_Shit!'_ cursed Naruto as he drew his own sword and parried the toad's attack. Naruto alternated blocking one sword and dodging the other and in a little while managed to land a blow on the toad's shoulder. However, his game was thrown off as Jiraiya attacked in-sync with the toad, so while Naruto blocked the swords Jiraiya managed to kick him in the back.

Naruto realized that he wouldn't just be fighting the toad and mentally prepared himself for the time when Jiraiya would attack, '_he'll probably attack me from the back,'_ mused Naruto. After blocking the swords, he felt a presence behind him that was closing in fast, '_so he's going to attack now, I better get ready.'_

Naruto had set up a very thin chakra barrier on his back so that he would sense the attack before it actually impacted him, so as soon as he felt the barrier being breached he transferred some chakra to his feet and jumped a little bit upwards of the direction the kick would push him. Thus, for a few valuable second Naruto ended up right above the toad's head. He, of course, used this time to his benefit and chopped the toad's head in two with his katana.

When he landed behind the toad, he saw it vanish into smoke and caught a quick glimpse of Jiraiya biting him thumb and doing hand seals, '_is he going to…?' _Before Naruto could finish his thought a giant cloud of smoke pushed him back about a hundred feet. Once he got back on his feet he saw Jiraiya standing on top of Gamabunta.

"What are you going to do now, Naruto?" asked Jiraiya with a sly grin, "no other toad will fight against The Boss."

Suddenly out of nowhere, Naruto once again heard the Chidori, though this time it sounded like it was coming towards him, '_what the hell?'_ He turned around and was greeted by the sight of Sasuke running at full speed at him, Chidori blazing, '_is he serious?'_ thought Naruto with amazement.

Naruto sighed and slowly did several hand seals, '_I hope this is the right way to do it…'_ he thought. Naruto finished the hand seals and held his hand tightly in a clapping position. What happened next took both Jiraiya and Sasuke by surprise. Sasuke suddenly fell to the ground, releasing the Chidori and screaming in pain while holding his Cursed Seal.

"Well, I guess it does work," said Naruto with a hint of surprise in his voice.

Sasuke looked up with hatred in his eyes, "What the hell did you do to me?" he seethed.

"Well, you see Orochimaru used the Cursed Seal as a means to control his subordinates and this is the pinnacle of that control," explained Naruto.

"So you didn't actually kill him, did you?" asked Jiraiya with contempt. "You're working for him aren't you?"

"No, I did kill him," replying Naruto calmly, though he was boiling with rage inside. '_How dare he even assume that I would work for that snake? I'm gonna rip off his arms and legs and…' _Naruto decided to stop right there before he got too carried away. "Spoils of war, people," he chuckled, "I just went through Orochimaru's stash of scrolls after I killed him and found a little something about the Cursed Seal. If this deal had gone like I had planned, I would have given you this scroll because it also talks about how to remove these seals, but now…" Naruto trailed off as Sasuke finally passed out from pain.

"Now, where were we?" he asked as he turned back to Jiraiya.

By this time Gamabunta had become aware of the situation, "If you fight me, Naruto, you can consider our contract null and void," he stated and Jiraiya laughed.

Naruto chuckled darkly, "who needs toads?" he bit his thumb and ran through a half-dozen hand seals, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu," he said and disappeared into a large cloud of smoke. In the next moment he was standing a little higher than Jiraiya, on the head of a black fox with yellow malicious eyes; Jiraiya's laughter died instantly. "You were saying something?" asked Naruto darkly.

Jiraiya gulped, even though the fox's eyes were yellow, they were in the same shape as the Kyuubi's. '_He's probably the only one to ever have the fox summoning contract,'_ contemplated Jiraiya, '_no doubt given to him by the Kyuubi.'_

Gamabunta almost dropped his pipe, "Impossible, no one should have the fox summoning contract. It's forbidden and was sealed away with the Lord of Foxes," he said.

The fox boss chose this time to speak up, "Lord Kyuubi-sama, chose Naruto-sama a more than worthy successor of the contract," he said with pride.

"Shall we, Yori?" Naruto calmly said to the fox.

Yori gave a slight growl and crouched down preparing to attack. Gamabunta pulled out his katana and charged at Yori and Naruto. Gamabunta went to slash, but Yori just jumped over him, "Kitsune Spiked Tail" he said, while in mid-air over Gamabunta. The fur on the fox's tail stood straight up and thickened, to become sharp chakra-infused spikes. As Yori came down, he brought his tail down over Gamabunta aiming to cut his back. The toad managed to dodge most of the attack, but Yori managed to clip his backside and draw blood.

"You damn fox!" yelled Gamabunta.

"We get that a lot, don't we Yori?" said Naruto somewhat sadly. '_Yori, vines…'_ thought Naruto, knowing that Yori could hear him because of the telepathic link Naruto has with all foxes. Naruto did the hand seals, and Yori generated and directed the chakra appropriately.

At first a single vine tendril went up to encircle each of Gamabunta's legs and arms. Gamabunta saw and cut the two vines that were attacking his arms, but missed the other two. Once the two that were going up to capture the legs were successful, a dozen more shot out of the ground. Some entangled the legs further, while others intertwined with each other to bind the legs together.

Yori charged once again, Naruto doing hand seals throughout the run. As soon as the fox got within striking distance of the toad, it just disappeared, 'H_uh? What the hell is he doing?'_ wondered both Gamabunta and Jiraiya. They didn't have much time to ponder this as a Fuuiton attack suddenly hit them head-on, out of nowhere and because Gamabunta was tied down, he was forced to take the whole of the attack.

Naruto smiled darkly at the sight, '_that's the beauty of In-Vortex, it travels right behind me and hits my opponent(s) right after I disappear.'_ Naruto quickly started contemplating his next attack, '_In-Vortex damaged the vines enough to allow Gamabunta to cut through them without too much effort. Yori, I'll need you to rip apart the toad while I engage Jiraiya.' _

'_Yes, Naruto-sama,'_ replied the fox.

The fox boss charged in and began attacking Gamabunta using his tail, nails and teeth, right as the toad finished cutting the vines himself. Gamabunta had at first tried blocking with his katana, but soon realized that the fox was a lot faster and more agile.

It was at this time that Naruto teleported onto Gamabunta's head and knocked Jiraiya down to ground level.

Gamabunta jumped back, away from the fox and formed a hand seal, "Suiton: Teppo Dama," two water-bullets shot out of Gamabunta's mouth. Yori paused his onslaught for a second to also form a hand seal, "Fuuiton: Renku Dan," he countered the toad's attack with two airwave cannons; water was scattered all around the battlefield. By the time the water cleared, Yori was already next to Gamabunta fiercely attacking him again.

Naruto noticed Jiraiya looking at the summonings' battle and said, "We have our own fight to finish, wouldn't you agree, Jiraiya-san?"

Jiraiya got into a fighting stance waiting for Naruto to attack, '_Gamabunta can take care of himself, I should worry more about my former student_.'

Naruto did a single hand seal and the ground under Jiraiya exploded. Jiraiya jumped away to dodge, but the ground under him exploded once more, '_he must have set up chakra-activated land mines.'_ Jiraiya finally settled in a tree only to have the ground beneath the tree blow up and the tree fall.

As soon as Jiraiya recovered, he was assaulted by a swarm of punches and kicks. The sannin managed to block one of his punches and catch that arm, but Naruto seemed prepared for that and did a few one-handed seals and brought the tips of his fingers to his mouth, '_Katon: Goukakyuu,'_ he thought and breathed out. The toad sannin wasn't stupid, he instantly use Kawarimi, so Naruto ended up burning a log.

Jiraiya sat high up in a tree watching Naruto just stand in the field all alone, '_he's really a tough opponent… and that black fox of his has already made Gamabunta disappear; good thing it didn't decide to attack me…'_ thought the sannin. '_And to think he hasn't used his signature technique yet; the Kage Bushin…'_ just then Jiraiya realized that no way Naruto would have stayed in the middle of the field doing nothing, '_Shit!'_ He felt a presence right behind him, but couldn't react fast enough and was forced to take a savage kick to the side. The sound of ribs breaking was clearly heard as Jiraiya fell towards the ground. Naruto then appeared right above him and delivered another kick straight to Jiraiya's face.

'_Naruto Rendan,'_ Naruto chuckled lightly, '_haven't used that one in… since I left Konoha.' _He then took these few seconds to look around the battlefield, what he saw did not please him. He saw a mostly worn out Kisame go flying courtesy of Tsunade's punch, '_Shit, I need to end,'_ he thought and brought his attention back to the toad sannin.

Naruto extended his nails to their usual combat length and jumped straight at Jiraiya who was still recovering from being slammed down into the ground by a foot to the face. Since Jiraiya was still somewhat confused, Naruto easily got in a swipe at Jiraiya's torso, ripping straight through his clothes and making a quarter of an inch cut across his stomach. Afterwards Jiraiya jumped back instinctively, but Naruto was right behind him and stuck his fingers straight into Jiraiya's back and pulled out a kidney. He appeared right in front of Jiraiya and tossed the kidney into his hands.

The toad sannin started at his kidney as if in a trance, a slow trickle of blood coming out of the corner of his mouth. Naruto then decided to end this; he quickly pulled out his katana and stabbed Jiraiya straight through the heart. In the distance Naruto heard someone cry "NO!" but didn't pay much attention to it. He twisted his katana ninety degrees, to prevent the wound from closing and slowly pulled out his katana.

Meanwhile with Kisame:

Kisame saw Naruto jump at Jiraiya and Uchiha Sasuke was stopped from following Naruto by Hirotaro, '_I guess I'm the only one who can take on another sannin,'_ he thought. "Looks like my fight is with you, Hokage-sama," said Kisame while un-strapping his Samehada.

Tsunade scowled, "fine, let's do this," she said crouching down into a half-stance.

Kisame charged right at her, holding his Samehada to the side with only his right hand. He went to swipe Tsunade right across the chest, but she jumped back and counter attacked with a Katon-jutsu. Kisame put the Samehada in front of himself, stopping all the flames from hitting him; however the bandages on his Samehada were completely burned off.

Kisame smirked and attacked with the Samehada again, Tsunade did her best to dodge, but was finally forced to block it with her kunai. She tried to channel chakra into her kunai to help block the Samehada, but found that it was all disappearing. "My Samehada eat up chakra," clarified Kisame when he saw Tsunade's confused look. Tsunade scowled and pushed Kisame's Samehada off of her with her freakish strength.

She then dashed at him with punches and kicks. Kisame mostly dodged, the one time he went to block with the Samehada Tsunade disappeared, re-appearing right behind him and delivering a terrifying blow to his right shoulder. Kisame ended up flying into a tree all the way on the other side of the clearing.

'_Damn that woman, probably broke my right shoulder, good thing I can still wield with my left hand… though not as well,'_ thought Kisame as he was getting up. As soon as he was up again, Tsunade jumped at him with chakra visible around her hands and began attacking all his vital points. Since Kisame couldn't block as fast, he was finally forced to use a ninjutsu. Taking a little extra time to concentrate Kisame ran through the necessary hand seals, "Suiton: Spiral Water Shield." Within the barrier, Kisame was wincing in pain, '_damn, it sure hurts to make water.'_

Tsunade knew that attacking the Water Shield would be futile, so she deactivated her medical jutsu and instead started doing hand seals for another jutsu. "Doton: Mud Spike," she said quietly.

Kisame suddenly felt chakra gathering right below him, '_Shit, a Doton-jutsu.'_ He quickly released the shield and tried jumping away from the spike that was coming up right next to his leg, but the spike had already started wrapping itself around Kisame's leg. Tsunade had once again activated her medical jutsu and charged at Kisame. Kisame put the Samehada in front of himself while quickly doing a few hand seals, '_good thing Itachi-san showed me some Doton-jutsus,'_ he thought.

"Doton: Diffusion," he said and channeled chakra to his captured leg. The Mud Spike quickly turned into muddy water and Kisame was able to block with his Samehada while jumping away. Kisame panted, '_I poured a little too much chakra into it, but it couldn't be helped I needed the speed.'_

Tsunade narrowed her eyes, '_I've never heard of that jutsu, I wonder where a Mist-nin would learn that. Though it seemed to have worn him out quite a bit,' _she contemplated. Just then she heard a giant rumbling and looked over to see Naruto and Jiraiya fighting on top of their summonings, '_A black fox…'_ she mused, but didn't have much time to wonder about it since out of the corner of her eye she saw Kisame get up to his feet.

Kisame had also noticed the summonings appear, but wasn't so surprised as he had seen Naruto summon foxes before. Rather he focused on Tsunade, who for now seemed distracted by the appearance of the black fox. He quickly formed a single hand seal and created a regular Bushin in his place, while he hid.

The Bushin started to slowly stand up and eventually caught Tsunade's attention. As soon as she saw him standing, she immediately charged at him and went to punch his jaw, but the punch went right through as the Bushin suddenly disappeared. Kisame used this opportunity to cut the Hokage on the back, but when his sword hit her she also disappeared in a cloud of smoke. '_What? No! She saw through the Bushin, then that would mean that…'_ Kisame wasn't allowed to finish his thought because Tsunade appeared right in front of him and punched him straight in the chest sending him flying.

Kisame was having trouble breathing and was coughing up blood, '_if only we were fighting in a more moist place.'_ Just then, a mass of water came down from the sky soaking everything in sight, '_hmm… I never though my prayers would be answered…'_ he thought. Kisame quickly did a couple of hand seals, "Suiton: Suikodan no Jutsu," he said. (A/N: Great Water Attack)

The water that had just fallen onto the ground, gathered up and launched itself at an amazing speed right at the female sannin. Tsunade did a few hand seals and slammed her palms into the ground, "Doton Keikkai." A wall of earth came up right in front of her and shielded Tsunade from the water attack, but it did not hold for long. Soon the wall started to dissolve into mud and the Suiton-jutsu broke through, sending Tsunade crashing along the ground half a dozen times.

The attack was powerful, but it left Kisame in a very vulnerable position. He realized that that was probably the one and only time that he would be able to use a Suiton-jutsu, so he poured a lot of chakra into that one move, hoping that it would sufficiently injure the female sannin.

Tsunade was pretty badly injured from that last water attack, but she quickly did a self-healing jutsu and most of the cuts and bruises disappeared instantly. '_I may not have a whole lot of chakra left, but it is enough to beat the crap out of him.'_ She then walked over to a very injured Kisame and punched him right under the jaw sending him flying across the battlefield.

Kisame tried to get back up and attack her with his Samehada, but Tsunade casually dodged it and easily knocked it out of his hand. "This is the end of the line," she said and activated her Chakra Scalpel. She then used the Chakra Scalpel to cut several of Kisame's major arteries; Kisame's body collapsed soon after.

Tsunade deactivated her medical jutsu and turned to look over at Naruto and Jiraiya's battle, what she was terrified her. There was Jiraiya standing on one knee, and Naruto was standing right in front of him with his katana drawn. Then Naruto just plunged it right into Jiraiya's chest, "NO!!!" screamed Tsunade, knowing that her old friend was already dead. '_Damn you, Naruto! Damn you! First you tear through the village with the Hyuga massacre and now you kill one of my best friends,'_ Tsunade angry and sad at the same time.

She saw him retract his blade and wipe it off using Jiraiya's robes. Then he looked over in her direction and narrowed his eyes; Tsunade glared back at him. Without putting his katana away he started walking towards her, '_Oh shit! What am I going to do? I'm in no state to fight against him now.'_ Tsunade was rapidly searching for alternatives in the matter. She turned around to look for any of her subordinates that could help her out; the sight was not pretty.

Hinata's Battle:

Hinata watched as Jiraiya, Tsunade and Sasuke were quickly paired off with the obviously stronger opponents. Her face grimaced, '_does no one see me as a threat?'_ she wondered angrily.

Just then a Sound-nin appeared in front of her and attempted to punch her, however his attack was stopped by a chakra layer, '_what the hell?'_ thought the Sound-nin. Then he was suddenly thrown back, in-flight he saw a rotating sphere of chakra enclosing his opponent. '_So she uses the force of rotating chakra to push me away. That defense would of course also repel chakra as well as people…'_ analyzed the Sound-nin. As he was nearing the ground, he flipped himself over and landed perfectly on his feet.

Hinata deactivated her Kaiten and at the same time activated the Byakugan. She instantly crouched down into the Hyuga Jyuken (Gentle Fist) taijutsu stance and motioned her opponent to attack her. (A/N: think Lee).

Her opponent did not rush in though, '_she looks very confident in close combat. Pure taijutsu probably won't work on her, I'll have to use my nin-taijutsu,'_ he mused. He dashed at Hinata and went to kick her in the stomach. She blocked, but her arm shook a little while it was in contact with the Sound-nin's leg.

'_He had chakra surrounding the leg that he kicked me with, but that still doesn't explain why my hand shook like that,' _wondered Hinata. However, she didn't want to lose this opportunity and since her opponent was within hand's reach, she attacked him aiming to close several important tenketsus. The Sound-nin quickly realized that she was using chakra in her attacks and so he gathered a bit of chakra to his mouth and blew out.

"DO!" he screamed and knocked Hinata back. Noticing the confused look on her face he decided to explain a little, "it's a sound attack. Chakra can be used to manipulate many things, one of them is sound and in this case it can be used as you just saw."

Hinata narrowed her eyes slightly, "so that is how you were able to make my arm shake," he nodded lightly. '_Like I thought, he relies a lot on chakra, so I will have to close as many his tenketsus as I can,'_ planned Hinata.

'_Good, as long she hangs on to that explanation I have a definite edge on her,'_ thought the Sound-nin with a mental smile, but retained his emotionless composure. He disappeared and re-appeared right behind her, but wasn't able to even begin his attack as she quickly hit him in the arm and closed off a tenketsu. '_Damn it, those special eyes of hers must have something to do with this… and what the hell did she do to that point on my arm?'_ wondered the Sound-nin. He jumped back a little ways away from her; she just jumped after him. '_No time, she's going to continue her onslaught… then…'_ he quickly did several hand seals and covered his whole body in a layer of chakra.

'_What? Does he think that he'll be able to stop the Gentle-Fist by covering himself in chakra?'_ Hinata smirked, '_It's not that easy.'_ She continued with her attacks, pumping in a little more chakra into each hit to compensate. As his blocks got harsher, she noticed that her hands were shaking more and more after each collision, '_he couldn't just be manipulating sound…'_

At this point, Hinata saw an opening and hit him hard with an open palm sending him tumbling over the ground. '_Yes!'_ she thought. "You are within my field of divination," said Hinata as she got into the appropriate stance.

'_Divination?'_ questioned the Sound-nin, '_Whatever it is, it can't good for me,'_ he quickly started preparing a ninjutsu.

"Hakkeshou: Rokujuu Yonshou," said Hinata and charged at the Sound-nin. (A/N: Hand of the Eight Divinations: Sixty-four Palms).

The Sound-nin saw her coming and unleashed his counter-attack, "Sonic Boom," he yelled and held his palms outwards at Hinata.

Hinata knew that he was attacking, but was already locked in to her own attack, '_He's planning something… oh well I'll just have to beat him to it,'_ she thought and increased her speed. However as soon as she hit one of his open palms, a loud explosion was heard and Hinata was blown back savagely. She landed several dozen yards away and tumbled along the ground until she hit a tree.

'_Damn, she took the attack at point-blank range… she's not getting off without several major injuries,'_ reflected the Sound shinobi. He watched Hinata get up and hold her left arm while slightly limping on her left leg. '_She's injured, now's the time to attack,'_ he thought and quickly began doing hand seals.

Hinata saw her opponent getting ready to attack her and patiently waited for his attack to come, knowing she would have to rely on the Hyuga's ultimate defense. The Sound-nin fired off several chakra-based projectiles, at least that's what they looked like through the Byakugan. When the projectiles were about to hit, Hinata released chakra all around her body and began spinning, "Kaiten."

The Sound-nin smirked, '_just as I thought, she's resorting to that same spinning defense.'_ He closed his eyes in concentration and did a few quick hand seals, "Fracture Waves," he whispered.

To an onlooker it looked like he nothing happened, but then again sound waves are invisible. Suddenly the Kaiten broke down and an agony-faced Hinata was seen stumbling out of the center of the crater. Her upper body looked somehow deformed, her Byakugan had been deactivated and blood was slowly dripping down the right side of her mouth. She stumbled a little and finally fell to ground face first.

The Sound shinobi narrowed his eyes, '_something's not right… that attack was aimed at the lower ribs, but that deformity makes it look like…'_ his eyes suddenly shot open in realization. '_Of course, that defense digs into the ground, so what was lower ribs before became collar bone…'_

The Sound-nin then made his way towards her, "I wonder if she's still alive…" he mused. He made his way over to Hinata, flipped her over onto her back and lightly examined her body. '_Yup definitely a collar bone hit,'_ he sighed, '_both of them fractured into a million pieces and her rib cage fell, accounting for the deformity.'_ He felt her pulse and didn't find one, '_one of the upper ribs must gained a sharp edge during the attack and cut into her heart either when her rib cage fell or when she fell face forward onto the ground,' _he shook his head. "It doesn't matter, she's dead either way," he mumbled.

He closed her eyes and slowly walked away from Hinata's body, '_well, my bloodline is one of the most powerful in the Sound,'_ he thought with a slight smile of pride.

Sakura's Battle:

Sakura was paired off with a female Sound shinobi with short purple hair. The Sound-nin attacked Sakura with taijutsu, which Sakura countered relatively easily. However she felt that she was burdened with all the weapons she was carrying, so she jumped back and threw half a dozen shuriken at her opponent. The purple haired shinobi dodged the shuriken and went to attack Sakura, but was stopped short as she felt the shuriken closing in on her once again, '_chakra strings,'_ she concluded.

She quickly formed a few hand seals and disappeared underground. The Sound-nin's hand came up right below Sakura and she quickly used the Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu on Sakura, only to find that the Leaf-nin had replaced herself with a log. '_Damn! And I was underground, so I don't know where she could have gone,'_ cursed the Sound-nin.

Soon the Sound shinobi found that she was unable to move, looking down she realized that her legs were caught in newly hardened mud, '_how did I not notice?'_ she wondered. Then she realized that the mud was slowly making its way up her body, hardening as it went up making a sort of second skin over the Sound-nin. '_This is… there's no way I can get out of this alone,'_ she thought and bit her thumb.

Sakura, meanwhile, was hiding in a neighboring tree overlooking her opponent. Sakura's hands were locked in a hand seal and little bits of sweat were visible on her forehead from concentration. '_I hope the genjutsu swallows her up before she is able to summon,'_ hoped Sakura.

But things weren't going to go Sakura's way and right as the genjutsu-generated mud grabbed the Sound-nin's arm, she had already completed her hand seals. "Kuchiyose," she said and raised her right arm over her head. Smoke covered the area above her arm and soon a spotted brown and black owl appeared right above her.

"Yes, master?" it asked.

"Pull me out of this mud," half-cried the Sound-nin.

Meanwhile, Sakura encased her victim in another genjutsu where a tree was tightly holding the purple-haired ninja and Sakura's head was coming out right above her.

"I have you now," said Sakura with a kunai in-hand.

'_This isn't good,'_ thought the summoning, '_I have to use it, even this early in the battle.' _The owl quickly did a few hand seals. Its eyes turned absolutely white and it dug its claws into the Sound-nin's arm, pulling her in the direction opposite of the imaginary tree.

As soon as her owl clawed her, the Sound-nin was immediately aware that she was trapped within a genjutsu and that her summoning was countering it.

"Thanks, Yashi," she said. '_Good thing I summoned the owl that has a special ability of seeing through and freeing themselves and their summoner from all genjutsus. Though they can only use this ability once a day, but when you're in jam it really helps.'_

Once free of the genjutsu she saw Sakura a little ways ahead of her, standing in the middle of the battlefield with a very confused expression, '_opportunity,'_ thought the Sound-nin and quickly did a half dozen hand seals. "Fuuiton: Wind Tunnel," she said and shot the attack right at her pink-haired opponent.

Sakura could not believe that the Sound-nin was able to so easily escape her genjutsu, '_did she purposely wait until I revealed myself to cancel my jutsu?'_ wondered Sakura, still not aware of her surroundings. '_How did she…?'_ Sakura couldn't complete her thought as she felt sudden wind around herself and the next moment she was forcefully thrown back and into a tree. '_Shit! I can't let my mind wander like that during battle,'_ she scolded herself.

Looking up, but was surprised to find her opponent gone. However, that didn't last long because soon she heard a voice somewhere above her. "Razor Feathers," said the Sound-nin while riding on the back of the owl. The next thing Sakura knew several hundred projectiles were headed her way.

"Doton Keikkai: Half Dome," said Sakura as she put her palms on the ground. A wall of dirt came up in front of Sakura and curved back to cover Sakura's hunched form behind it.

'_Not so easy Pinky,'_ thought the Sound-nin with a smirk. She moved her fingers, briefly showing the chakra strings that were attached to them. The Sound-nin then directed at least fifty of the feathers around Sakura's dome and right into her. At that time she caught sight of movement to her left and saw that Sakura had actually left a Bushin in her place. '_Well she found the wrong time to show herself,' _smiled the Sound shinobi.

Sakura had indeed left her Bushin behind and was now going through a long list of hand seals; '_I hope this works, since it will drain a lot of my remaining chakra.'_ Unknown to her, but her opponent was also going through a long list of hand seals; also wanting to finish the battle.

The two attacks were released at the same time, "Fuuiton: Jet Stream," said Sakura. "Fuuiton: Hurricane Winds," said the Sound-nin.

The attacks collided in mid-air and were more or less canceling each other out. However, soon it became apparent that the Jet Stream jutsu was more powerful as it ripped through the Hurricane Winds and smashed into the Sound-nin and her owl. The Sound shinobi was tossed off of her owl and fell to the ground, but since she wasn't that high up she got off with only a broken hand and a slightly limp.

Meanwhile her owl had been able to evade the rest of Sakura's attack and very quickly made his way behind the Leaf-nin. It then swooped down at her with his feathers turned into razors. Sakura had wrongfully assumed that the summoning had just vanished and was too focused on the Sound-nin to notice the owl's attack until it was too late.

The feathers dug into Sakura's back and arms. She cried out and tried to fight back with her kunai, but before she could, the owl hit her right across the face with three of his feathers.

Sakura's vision was becoming blurry as she was suffering from exhaustion and blood loss. The owl to the side of her disappeared in a cloud of smoke and she assumed that she had managed to kill him. Satisfied with the result, she smiled a little and passed out.

"Well she's out," said the purple-haired shinobi. She then looked over at the rest of the people and gasped. Out of her comrades only one was alive, even Kisame was dead, '_good thing Otokage-sama is still alive,'_ she breathed a sigh of relief at that. She watched as her still living teammate swung their fallen comrade over his shoulder and walked over to where the Otokage was talking with the Hokage. She slowly limped her way after him.

Meanwhile with Naruto and Tsunade:

Naruto walked over to Tsunade with a cold look on his face and made a motion with his sword as if he was going to attack her, but at the last second stopped the attack and put the sword back in its sheath.

Tsunade tried using this opportunity to attack him using the Chakra Scalpel. Naruto let the attack hit, but grabbed Tsunade's hand before she could pull it away. "You shouldn't give your hands away like this," he said softly while in his other palm activated an incomplete Rasengan and hit Tsunade in the stomach. She was sent flying back to crash into a tree; she sat there against the tree not having enough strength to get up.

She watched the wound she had inflicted on him heal up in a matter of seconds, "so are you going to kill me now?" she asked.

Naruto scoffed and did several hand seals, "Transparency," he muttered. He then reached down and into one of Tsunade pockets and pulled out a scroll. "I'll be taking this now," he said softly and turned to walk away.

"So you got your prize, huh? Going to use it against people that care about you again?" she spat out.

Naruto turned back to the Hokage with sad and angry eyes, "I didn't want the scroll, don't you get that!?" Naruto yelled at Tsunade, while waving the scroll at her. "I didn't come here for the damn scroll! I came here to make peace between us… ME and YOU," he paused for a second. "I didn't want to make this political... it was supposed to be on a personal basis..."

"And what did you expect for me to just forgive you after everything that you've done!" Tsunade yelled back.

"Of course not," replied Naruto softly. "I merely wanted to apologize and to try and do a few nice things to make up for some of the horrible things that I've done."

"Really? Make up for hurting or _killing_ people that cared about you, that worried about you, that were hoping you would escape the darkness and come back to us," the last part Naruto realized was spoken about herself.

Naruto sighed deeply and regretfully, "like you said, I wasn't able to escape the darkness until it was too late, but I did want to make amends…" his tone was giving away to bitterness, "but what do you do? You throw it back in my face without even looking at it!" he paused briefly to gather his thoughts. "All of this," he motioned to the destruction that lay around him, "shouldn't have happened. I wanted it to be a 'happy' ending… or as happy as it could be made out to be.

"I wanted peace between our villages," noticing the confused look on Tsunade's face Naruto clarified. "I'm the Otokage…" he smiled sadly, "I guess you could say I attained my childhood dream."

"You? You are the one in charge of that village?" Naruto nodded. "So then it was you that rooted out our spies, " Naruto nodded again. "And I assumed that it was you that gave the order to kill them!"

At that Naruto's face darkened, "don't assume shit about me, you know nothing. Konohamaru and Moegi are alive and well," he clenched his fist and began walking away. "Or at least they would have been if you had simply trusted a little and had the courtesy to listen," concluded Naruto darkly.

"Trust? I trusted you once and you let me down," countered Tsunade.

"I extended my hand in peace… you should have thought about it. If I trusted you enough to stand before you alone, then you should have at least trusted me enough to hear me out," said Naruto in a very calm voice, but it was clear that it was merely a mask for the anger that he was feeling.

Naruto walked over to Kisame and paused to look at his dead body. He lifted up the body and swung it up on his shoulder. "I'll make sure to send back Konohamaru... in a box..." he said coldly; Tsunade visibly flinched.

With a flick of his head he motioned for his subordinates to come over to him. Once they were on either side of him, he started doing a list of hand seals, but paused to survey the battlefield once again.

Noticing a more-or-less awake Sasuke and a completely knocked out if not dead Sakura, Naruto shook his head sadly, "Sasuke… your brother would have been very disappointed," he concluded in a sad tone.

He completed his hand seals and instantly three tails of black chakra appeared behind him. Naruto took one last look at his former village-mates before mumbling, "Demonic: Fox Leap," and disappearing along with his subordinates, in black smoke.

* * *

**_IMPORTANT!! IMPORTANT!! IMPORTANT!!  
_**Now is your time to choose:  
**Do you want me to pair up Naruto with an OC or not?  
**  
If Yes, then the next chapter will have a lot of romance(The ending probably won't change)  
If No, then I will just continue without a pairing. 

**Notes:  
**(1) This is the only pairing I'm offering.  
(2) And I'm not introducing new OC's (So I think you can guess who its gonna be)  
(3) This fic can do with or without a pairing, so really i don't care much.

Oh and if anyone wants a quick responce from me, then it's better to either IM me or email me.


	19. Change of Pace

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately). I do own all of my own characters.  
Thank you to all my reviewers!!! You ppl r so nice :-)  
"blah" speech  
'_blah'_ thoughts

**Otokage** - Patience... Otokage-sama, patience... :-)

**DarkJackel** - Yea... age difference was my biggest concern too. As for the your views on the rest of the fic: well I don't want to spoil it, plus its only a chapter away from the beginning of the end... And I have something planned for Konohamaru.

**blaboy** - the tattoo will be soon. The content Yondaime's scroll will not be seen for now. And ur off on the tallies b/c it was purposely calculated that two ppl wuld die from each side.

**MC-88** - If the pairing doesn't go your way, then I will say that the ending is the same, pairing or no pairing.

**joann** - sorry but I really don't want to figure out how two Kages would go about being married.

**y0028k** - lol, yes I've wondered about that too, but decided that their 'fingers' are flexible enough...

**kisama** - why? Isn't it obvious? For the plot of course...

**Magy** - I generally don't have it typed, especially if I'm doing a vote.

**Aiel** - Good, in your sense? or in mine? -evil smile-

**caro8** - No, not effortlessly. Structuring 5 simultaneous battles is quite a pain. As for making sense, well I just kinda see if it plays out in my head, if not then I have to change it. Yes, the Uchiha truth will be revealed before the end... (actually I got distracted while writing ch18 and instead wrote the Uchiha truth). Yes, the ending has been planned out since about while I was writing ch17. So you have 3 chapters to enjoy this fic until it ends at ch21.

**momon101** - Kakashi is out on an S-class mission... No, I don't know where he is. He just didn't make the cut for the casting of ch17 and 18.

**black** - Yes, the uchiha truth will be revealed, but who ever said anything about a happy ending? "What's your rush now, everyone will have their day to die" - A Perfect Circle

**Lady Of Genesis** - as I've told others, patience... the sun for judgement day is set to rise... I guess yea, I do like to kill characters...

**Pirazy **and** OpposingForce** - Naruto, as a knight in shining armor? No. Just No. In black armor that reflects the light of the moon, maybe (Don't think about it too much). You have to be emotionless in war, Naruto doesn't care for the Leaf as he does for the Sound, why do you think he'll treat them equally? No, he was supposed to 'hint' at the Uchiha truth. I'm not gonna lie, I did screw up a bunch of things in 17, but re-writing it is 'way too troublesome'... ch19 is going to have a long time span as it is, fitting in a relationship shouldn't be too much of a problem, plus they've known each other for many years. And yes my ego definetely got a hold of me, but for a different reason...Damn, you do rant a lot... :-/ ... j/k... I prefer long reviews Oh and last note, no one's perfect... please don't assume that...

**evilmustardman** - you know, that still only counts as one.

**Seether 0** - fawing over each other -shudders- gods no...

**Kawaii Youkai** - I found out about the hand seals after I wrote the chapter.

**Bob** - Your review made more sense than a bunch of others.

**Monaki-cheung** - Kisame's death was faked... It was in Itachi's letter to Naruto in chapter 13.

1) In truth, I didn't originally plan to kill Kisame, but upon a closer look I saw that there needed to be a death of someone close to Naruto... and I kinda wanted to leave the posibility of a relationship with Miya open, so Kisame was the only choice.

2) Why does everyone think it's a romance ending? God damn! I'll tell you straight up, it's not gonna end w/ a 'and they lived happily ever after'.

3) The vote was close... now then, there will be romance, but not too much. Plz tolerate it.

* * *

Chapter 19 – Change of Pace

Naruto along with his injured or dead subordinates, teleported right back into the Otokage's office. Naruto quickly called a few more people to take care of the dead and to take the injured to the hospital.

'_I'll need to arrange the funeral,' _thought Naruto sadly. He called in his secretary and told her to make arrangements for the funeral to take place three days from now. '_After all, I have wait for Miya to get back… can't go burying one of her friends without her.' _

Naruto sat down at his desk, with his hands on forehead and sighed heavily. "God damn," he muttered. Naruto looked over at the paperwork on his desk, frowned and turned in his chair to gaze out the window. "I really don't want war to come to this place," he said softly.

He sat like that looking out the window for an unknown amount of time, until an ANBU disturbed him with some business. At this point, Naruto sighed and got back to his duties and the Otokage.

Three days later at the funeral, all of the shinobi that didn't have missions or guard duty came to Kisame and Hirotaro's funeral; even some civilians showed up. Though most people were there for Kisame because he was a prominent figure within the shinobi ranks.

Miya stood next to Naruto after they had both said Kisame's eulogy, and try as they might they were unable to hide their sadness. White roses were soon thrown on top of the coffin by all present and the coffin was then buried. (A/N: I hope I got that at least half right, since I've never been to a funeral.)

Naruto crotched down next to his friend's grave, "I'm sorry old friend… that you had to die," he lowered his head.

Miya then continue for Naruto, "but… you did always say that it would be a great honor for you to die on the battlefield, while fighting along side a good friend."

She looked over at Naruto who simply sighed and nodded in agreement, "I hope you've found peace," he said and stood up.

"I'm going back to the office," he addressed Miya and left without giving her a chance to reply.

Miya stood there in a slight confusion, then kneeled down next to Kisame's grave and whispered, "Don't worry, I'll take care of him." She tilted her head and looked in the direction of Naruto's house, "That is, after I get some answers from him," she clenched her fist. "Be at peace my friend…" she gently placed his slashed Mist forehead protector on the tombstone and vanished.

Naruto did go to his office, but could concentrate on anything and finally decided to go home, not wanting to be at the office after that entire ordeal. He was still pissed off about Kisame's death at the hands of someone that he was going to trust.

The Otokage's house was a grand two-story apartment that had a giant living room with a fireplace, a dining room for at least thirty people, a big kitchen, a bathroom, and even a small library on the first floor. On the second floor there was a master bedroom and three guest rooms, and three more bathrooms.

As soon as he came in, Naruto found Miya sitting on the couch in the living room, with a serious look on her face. Naruto wasn't too surprised to find her there, since she could get into just about any place, guarded or unguarded.

Miya stood up and walked over to him. She stopped right in front of him and looked him dead in the eyes, "What the hell happened out there?" she demanded.

"Look, when I heard about Kisame, I was pissed off too, but did you really expect anything better?" she asked.

"Maybe…" he said in a slightly calmer tone, "maybe I expected some impossible act of forgiveness… I sure as hell paid for it."

"I told you not to go back there, nothing good can come from visiting your home village… I would know," she added sadly.

Naruto suddenly turned to face her, "w-what do you mean, you know?"

"I went back, after the Akatsuki fell apart, maybe hoping to make-up with my old friends," explained Miya in a slightly bitter tone. "They blamed me for everything bad that had happen to the village since my departure… but most of all they only saw me as a loose end from the operation to bring down the Akatsuki."

"The cutting of all the threads…" mumbled Naruto and Miya nodded. "But why didn't you tell me this before I went," his voice was becoming frustrated again. "I would have given it more thought or at least not rushed in there like I did."

Before Naruto could react, Miya punched him in the stomach and pushed him back against the wall. She broke the skin just above his wrist with a kunai and slowly pulled upwards, "Do you really think I like talking about killing my friends?" she asked in a dead cold tone. "Do you believe my heart to be dead?"

Once she reached his shoulder she withdrew and her eyes almost instantly lost that coldness, "I care about Kisame's death… more than I would ever show," she said softly. "You know… you had about the same training… hiding and/or masking our emotions is basically instinctive."

"I know," sighed Naruto, "I'm sorry…" he added very softly. He looked down at his arm and quickly generated some chakra to heal it all up.

Miya was stunned, she had never heard him use that kind of tone with anyone. On a second take, she realized that the message was genuine, '_He's never apologized and really meant it… maybe only to Itachi-san. He's always been the best of us to conceal emotions… 'lifetime's practice' he said.' _However, Miya could not figure out what he would be apologizing for; he wouldn't be sorry for interrogating her, 'C_ould it not be meant for me?'_ she wondered.

A long silence passed in the room.

"It was my fault…" he finally said.

"Huh?" Miya wondered. '_What could have been his fault? The fact that the Leaf village rejected him? Or could he be talking about Kisame?'_

"I must have been too forceful…" he continued in a subdued voice, "I figured I couldn't go into the meeting in obvious regret, I thought it would make it look like I was begging."

'_Good thinking, if you had done that then they would have surely walked all over you,'_ she thought, but stayed silent.

"I certainly didn't want that, if they were going to accept me then they were going to accept me for myself not for another mask that I would put up to gain their trust," he explained. "You of all people should realize that I didn't really go there for the scroll, it was a nifty excuse to tell myself and anyone that doubted my motives. I would have definitely offered them peace and some sort of comeuppance, but before all that I had to feel them out… and this is where I messed up."

He turned around so that his back was to her, so that she could not see the emotions running across his face. "Several things that should not have been said, were, and it went downhill from there," he tightened his fist. "I should have seen it, noticed the little, subtle things that went on in the meeting. I was so absolutely convinced that Tsunade would still like me, that it rendered me blind."

Miya could see that this was tearing him apart, '_He had honestly counted on at least neutrality between the villages,'_ she reached out an arm towards him, but hesitated. "Do they know? About you being the Otokage, that is?"

"Yes, I told the Hokage right before we left," he answered. "Shock and maybe even fear… intermixed with her previous coldness…"

'_Serves her right, underestimating Naruto like that… that bitch,'_ thought Miya, though also wondered why she was suddenly being so forceful.

"Maybe I should still extend my hand, this time as the Otokage," wondered Naruto.

"What!? Don't tell me that you are actually considering doing that after everything they did to you," Miya replied vehemently.

"It was my fault so I should make amends," he said in a half-broken voice.

"It's not your fault, they made the decision by themselves," she countered. "They surely know that no one comes to the negotiations table, without at least some pride and maybe even a card up their sleeve."

"Still they deserved better…"

Miya cut him off, "Persistence is futile! Those people will never change!" she yelled.

"They are not all like that…"

"How many?" she asked compellingly, "How many do you still consider your friends and vice-versa? Five?"

"Less," Naruto answered. "One… perhaps."

'_One!?'_ her mind screamed. '_I wasn't expecting anything that bad… my god…'_

"I don't know if even he would forgive me for everything I've done."

"Do you really intend to do all this for just one person, that might not even like you anymore?" she asked him in a soft tone.

"But he was there for me…" Naruto trailed off.

"If he had been there for you, we wouldn't be talking right now, and you wouldn't have joined the Akatsuki after running away," she concluded.

"Well, I don't know… he's just… if Tsunade turned on me then surely he's not too far behind… after all the Kyuubi did kill his entire family…"

"Naruto," she said as she snaked her arm around his waist from behind and held him close to her. "There are people right here that care about you… maybe you should also cut all the threads?"

Naruto sighed deeply and relaxed a little in her in her embrace, "I know," he sighed again. He paused to think a little, "cut all the threads you say?"

"Well, you said it before me," she answered softly.

"Yes, I think I will do exactly that," replied Naruto. "If this person can forgive me then, he will also have to side with me… but I will not hold out my hand."

"Miya?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you and I'm sorry again," he said.

Miya was confused once more, '_That 'sorry' was meant for me, but why?'_

Naruto turned around to face her and put his hands on her shoulders, but couldn't make his eyes meet hers, "I know about your feelings…" he said after a slight pause.

Miya was startled, "W-what? My feelings, but…" she decided to feign ignorance. "What feelings are you talking about exactly?"

Naruto chuckled a little, "No games, Miya, Itachi told me… Me being in absolute ignorance about things like that, I never noticed," he calmly said, amused to find her so shocked.

"So you've known all this time, huh? But then that would mean that you don't reciprocate, right?" she looked away not wanting to see his face when he said it.

"Back then, things were different, we were both in the Akatsuki and any kind of relationship seemed just a bit impossible," he began to explain. "Then there was the whole Leaf Mission incident and Itachi's death and I just had to leave," she nodded. "After that, revenge was just about the only thing on my mind… I did go to the Grass Country right after I had found out that the Akatsuki was gone, I guess subconsciously hoping that I would find you. Then I helped out in the Sand, killed Orochimaru, took control of this village and sent some people to find you and Kisame and you know the story from there," he concluded.

Miya nodded at the last part, but was still unsure how that answered her question, "So…?" she asked not really sure what to ask.

Naruto smirked, "So much for your own training of being able to read emotions," he said in a joking tone.

"Hey! It's hard enough to make coherent sense out of what you say," she snapped.

"Exactly what do you mean by that?" he questioned. "I make prefect sense."

"Really now? Then how come even I can't understand?"

"You're doing it on purpose of course," he half-yelled, "to piss me off."

"Hey, you're not as clueless as I thought," he laughed.

"Very funny," said Naruto in an annoyed tone.

"Oh come on, you're too uptight… of course I know what you mean."

"So then, why?" he asked confused.

"Idiot… I wanted a straight answer," she answered.

"Oh… well in that case, I like you too, Miya," confessed Naruto with a slight blush on his face.

Miya mirrored Naruto's blush and quickly hugged him, part of the reason being so that he wouldn't see the emotions in her eyes.

"I'm actually saddened that you weren't able to resolve things with the Leaf," said Miya.

"Yea, so am I."

"After all that, did you at least get the scroll?" she asked kindly.

Naruto broke the hug and walked over the mantle piece and drew his finger over the surface. A secret compartment rose up from the mantle piece and Naruto took out the scroll from it.

"Have you read it yet?" she asked.

Naruto nodded, "But it wasn't what I was expecting."

"How so?" Miya asked with a little concern.

"Well, of course it had an apology and an explanation for why he sealed the Kyuubi within me," Naruto explained in a soft tone. "But there was also an alternate reason for the whole thing…" he paused.

"Well, it just gives me a new cause," Naruto concluded.

"So, what are you going to do now?"

"The rest of the day, I'm going to spend in remembrance of a fallen comrade and old friend," he stated sadly.

Miya nodded in agreement and they stayed at his house for the rest of the day and night, talking about the past times. Miya stayed the night at the Otokage's house, in a guest bedroom just as she had done several other times.

Naruto woke up late the next morning with a feeling that he was forgetting to do something. He got up and walked into the kitchen to find Miya had already prepared breakfast.

"Morning," she greeted.

"Morning," answered Naruto in a slightly worried tone.

"What is it?"

"I feel like I've forgotten something important."

Miya thought for a moment, "Does it relate to the meeting?"

"I think so…" he trailed off as he realized what it was, "Oh…"

Miya tilted her head to the side, "Oh? Judging by your tone, you don't really want to deal with it or you don't really know how to deal with it."

"It concerns the prisoners that I was going to give back to the Leaf," Naruto said.

"Well, I doubt that you're going to just let them loose now."

"Of course not, but at the meeting I told the Hokage that I would send her Konohamaru in a box," he explained.

"And you're thinking if that is really the best course of action, am I right?" she asked already knowing the answer; he nodded.

"If I remember correctly he's the previous Hokage's grandson, so you might get a handsome random for him," she offered.

"Yes, but…"

"But, he's a liability right?"

"Exactly," replied Naruto.

"Then, kill him along with the female and have them both delivered to the Leaf village," she simply replied. "Maybe even have one of our spies put his dead body in a highly visible place."

"You're quite sadistic when it comes to that kind of stuff, you know?"

"No worse than you," she replied with a sadistic grin.

Suddenly an idea hit Naruto and he showed a malicious grin, "I'll use one of them as the delivery girl…"

Miya raised an eyebrow and smirked, "You don't bluff on you're threats."

"Nope."

After breakfast Naruto made his way to the dungeon and asked the guards to prepare a box for the male prisoner's body, and to also release the girl and bring over to Konohamaru's cell. He then made his way over to Konohamaru.

Naruto looked into Konohamaru's cell and saw him sitting down in the corner with one of his hands chained to the wall.

"Hey," he called from the outside.

Konohamaru instantly recognized that voice and didn't even bother looking up, "What the hell do you want?" he asked with bitterness.

"Well, I thought I'd tell you that your village decided that you aren't worth anything, so they will not be paying your ransom," he said with a slight amusement.

"I don't care, I would die for my village!" he declared, looking up the Otokage with determined eyes.

Naruto laughed at this, until he noticed the anger in Konohamaru's eyes, "Oh don't worry I'm not laughing at you. In fact, I think that that's very honorable that you think like that," said Naruto in an amused tone. "Very few ninjas like you in the Leaf, and they throw them away just like that… stupid, if you ask me."

Naruto looked over to see Moegi being dragged over to Konohamaru's cell. Finally the guards managed to get her right over to Naruto and chained her to the door of the opposite cell.

"Why do you struggle so much? Don't you want to see your life-long friend?" asked Naruto emotionlessly.

Moegi spat in his face, "No! I don't want to see him get beaten up in front of me!" she yelled.

Naruto looked over at the guards in question, "Really now?"

"It's a form of interrogation, Otokage-sama, I'm sorry if…" one of the guards started to apologize, but Naruto cut him off.

"No, it is no big deal. Nothing to be sorry for," he turned back to Moegi and wiped the spit off his face. "Though, now I'll have to make this even more interesting," he said sadistically and flashed his blood-red eyes fro Moegi.

"Make sure she watches," he ordered the guards. Then in softer tone whispered to them, "Though you don't have to," the guards nodded in understanding.

Naruto opened the cell door and stepped in, "Now then Konohamaru-kun, lets start."

"Do your worst," he stated confidently.

"Oh you don't want my worst," said Naruto, "plus then it would be over too quickly."

Naruto opened up his robe to reveal dozens of needles, hooks, scalpels and what looked like dull, rusty knives. Naruto noticed Konohamaru's determination waver a little bit and smirked a little.

Naruto took one of the needles, grabbed Konohamaru's free hand, pushed the palm up against the wall, and stuck the needle straight through the nail of the thumb pinning Konohamaru to the wall. He then repeated the process with his other hand. Both times Konohamaru gritted his teeth to keep from crying out in pain.

Naruto smirked at his determination and decided to hit a few more pressure points all over his arms. Konohamaru was still able to resist the pain, which made him worthy in Naruto's eyes. Naruto then decided to switch over to the hooks. He made sure that there were other hooks in the walls slightly above the Leaf-nin and he slowly removed the needles that pinned Konohamaru to the wall.

Since Konohamaru wasn't fed well, most of his muscles had atrophied and so he wasn't really able to resist what Naruto was doing to him. The Otokage turned him around and put several hooks through his back and hung him up on the wall. Naruto then proceed to cut several muscles in Konohamaru's legs with a scalpel and then switched his attention to the Leaf-nin's torso.

Naruto took out his dull and rusty blades and cut a star shaped design into Konohamaru's chest, making sure to do it slow enough so that he would feel the maximum amount of pain. (A/N: I could write more, but then it would have to be rated R.)

The tortures continued like that for another hour or two. Somewhere in the middle Konohamaru finally cracked and at first started whimpering, then broke down fully crying out in pain. At the same time Moegi was also crying and begging for Naruto to stop. When Naruto finally did stop, Konohamaru was completely covered in blood from head-to-toe and he was barely breathing. For the finale, Naruto had activated his demonic eyes and used Hell on Konohamaru.

"Why… why do you have to be so cruel to him?" Moegi sobbed. She had long ago tried to look away, but the guards made sure that she watched everything. "He's going to die like that… please leave him alone," she desperately begged the Otokage. Then as she saw Naruto step away from Konohamaru and walk out of the cell, leaving her closest friend to bleed to death she yelled out, "Won't you at least get a doctor for him?"

Naruto turned back to her and brought his demonic eyes to look directly into hers, "You have too many requests, little girl." Moegi whimpered. "If you hadn't spit in my face I would have made his death quick, but no, you had to prolong it," he stated coldly.

"But don't worry you will get your true wish and go home," he told her. "You'll just have the small duty of delivering Konohamaru to the Leaf, do you except?" She quickly nodded, mostly out of fear, and continued crying.

"Good," said Naruto and threw a kunai straight into Konohamaru's heart, killing him instantly.

"NO!" yelled Moegi. "What the hell did you do that for!?"

"Since you so nicely accepted my offer, I ended his suffering," coldly answered Naruto.

"No, Konohamaru-kun… no…" Moegi cried even more.

"Put the body in the box and get the girl at some semi-decent clothes and escort her to the borders of the Sound Country," he ordered the guards. Then added, "And don't worry about cleaning the body up."

The Otokage left the dungeon and made his way to his office to get back to his work. By the end of the day, he received a report that Moegi has been escorted to the border and left to get back to the Leaf by any means she can. Naruto was sure that with the current tension, the border would be closely watched and that Moegi would be escorted to the Leaf by some ANBU.

Later that night, Naruto met up with Miya and they went to get a bite to eat. Even though, Naruto was with the girl he likes, his face only showed gloominess.

"What's wrong Naruto-kun?" asked Miya with concern.

Naruto stayed silent for a moment, "I lost control today…"

"With the Leaf-nin?"

"Remember how I told you that I was going to make it quick for him?" he asked.

Miya nodded, "For old times sake, you said."

"Well, when Moegi spit in my face, she reminded me so much of Tsunade… that I just lost it…" he said slowly.

"I just kept seeing Kisame's death face and that little mocking look that the Hokage gave me when she went back on the deal."

"I see," she said in serious voice. "I understand what happened."

The rest of the dinner passed in silence. Afterwards they walked to the Otokage's place and just as Naruto shut the door behind them he asked Miya a question.

"Do you think I'm just like Orochimaru?"

Miya quickly turned around to face him in confusion, "What? How could you even ask that?"

"It's just that, I betrayed my home village, murdered several shinobi from there and now I have my own village with which I'm going to wage war against my home village," he explained.

Miya frowned, '_No, there is no way I'm going to let him compare himself with that snake,'_ she decided. "Naruto, you are definitely not like that snake. He ran away for a much more selfish reason than you and you killed those shinobi out of survival reasons," she tried to reason with him. "Plus, you are waging war for a much better reason than that snake could have ever come up with."

"I guess," sighed Naruto. "But why do I always get seen as the evil one?"

"Only by your enemies, Naruto," she reassured. "Your enemies will always see you as an evil being."

Naruto sniffled a little, "I know what I have to do and I have a good reason why I should do it, but…" he paused for a few seconds, "But why did two of my closest friends have to die for me to get here… and how many more of my friends will have to die before this is finally over?"

Miya gently embraced him and for the first time in more than twelve years Naruto openly cried on Miya's shoulder. Miya held him tight and whispered comforting words into his ear.

After a few minutes he stopped and looked up into her eyes, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she gently replied. "Do you feel better now that you've released all the pain and suffering you've been keeping inside?"

"Hmm… definitely," he smiled at her, and she smiled back.

"Thanks for being here, Miya," he said and gently kissed her. Miya was a little shocked, but kissed back.

Several days later in the Leaf Village:

"Hokage-sama, our scouts are coming back earlier than expected," reported a guard.

"Reason for their return?" asked Tsunade expecting it to be a confrontation with Sound-nin.

"They said that they are bringing someone back."

Tsunade's heart skipped a beat, "Bring them to me as soon as they get back," she ordered. She thought back to Naruto's parting words, '_Was I wrong to assume that to be an empty anger-induced threat?'_ she wondered.

Within the hour three people entered the Hokage's office, two of them carrying a box and the third carrying a girl in his arms. Tsunade instantly recognized the girl as Moegi.

"Where did you find her?" she half-yelled.

"Just on the border to the Sound Country," answered the ANBU. "We observed her and that coffin, getting dumped onto our side of the border and left there."

"And that would then be Konohamaru," said Tsunade sadly pointing to the coffin.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," answered the same ANBU. "We opened it up to make sure in wasn't a bomb."

The Hokage nodded and noticed that Moegi was stirring. "Take the coffin to the morgue and please inform his friends. Leave Moegi here, I'll need to talk to her," they bowed and disappeared out of the office with the coffin.

Tsunade walked over to Moegi to make sure she wasn't too badly hurt. Except for a couple of bruises and a couple of small cuts, the girl was absolutely fine.

"Moegi, are you all right?" asked Tsunade in a concerned tone.

The girl half-opened her eyes and smiled a little when she saw Tsunade, "Hokage-sama…" she then mumbled something about home and then started crying again.

"Yes, you're home. No need to worry anymore," reassured the Hokage.

"Konohamaru-kun… he's dead…" Moegi sobbed. "He tortured him to death."

Tsunade's face twisted in an angry frown at this, '_This 'he' must be Naruto… and he was obviously using this poor girl as the messenger, that twisted bastard.'_

"Moegi, don't worry he can't hurt you anymore."

"No, he didn't do anything to me… I just watched as-as-as…" she couldn't finish her sentence. However she didn't need as Tsunade had already put the pieces together.

"Moegi, I'll have someone escort you to the hospital. Just rest now, we'll get that bastard," said Tsunade bitterly.

Just then Udon burst into the office and instantly made his way to Moegi and hugged her, happy that she was alive.

"Udon, please escort Moegi to the hospital, she's had a very long day," Udon nodded and scooped Moegi up in his arms and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

The Hokage sat down hard in her chair, "I guess war is inevitable," she mumbled.

She knew all too well that the village was not ready for war at the moment, so she would have to start preparing her forces and strengthening alliances. She wondered whom the Sand would ally with in the event of a war. Through Jiraiya's espionage, Tsunade knew that Naruto had in fact helped Temari gain power and also that the Sand knew a long time ago who the Otokage was, and hence had made that trade agreement with the Sound because of Naruto.

'_I see two options, either the Sand siding with the Sound, which would prove very bad for the Leaf or the Sand simply staying neutral, which would a bit more beneficial for the Leaf,'_ the Hokage mused.

"And we were just weakened with the dead of Jiraiya," she mumbled remembering the funeral several days back. '_The Hyuga head, Hinata, was also killed and Sasuke and Sakura are both in the hospital with medium to heavy injuries, respectively.'_

"Well, if I learned one thing from that meeting it's that Sound shinobi cannot be taken lightly," said Tsunade. '_And then there's the Otokage, Naruto… being able to kill two sannin, is a feat that is quite incredible in itself… I wonder if I would be able to stand up to him if the Sound decided to attack first.'_

After a bit of contemplating, Tsunade called in her special jounin and the best strategist, Shikamaru and briefed them on the situation. Shikamaru instantly suggested building up the Leaf's defenses, before focusing on the offensive. His reason being that if the Otokage felt superior to the Hokage then there was high chance that he would decide to strike first.

The next two years were spent just building up defenses, before at last focusing on the offensive. The Leaf had a pretty difficult time forming military alliances, since the Sound had made it known that there was increasing tension that could very easily lead to war. So other Hidden Villages knew that an alliance with the Leaf would ultimately lead to a war with the Sound. The smaller villages especially didn't want this, mostly because they had profitable trade agreements with the Sound. About halfway through the fourth year, Konoha did manage to sign an alliance with the Mist Village.

On the other hand, the Sound had no problem signing military alliances. The Hidden Cloud was especially happy to be in an alliance that may give them the chance to get even with Konoha. Naruto had thought that the Stone would accept an alliance, but just as he was making the offer, a war had broken out between the Stone and Snow. The Stone knew exactly what the Sound was making alliances for and politely declined the alliance saying that they didn't want to a fight a war on two fronts.

That's what happened officially, however unofficially the Otokage had set up a treaty with the Stone making it possible for Sound shinobi to participate in the war with the Snow disguised as Stone-nin. Main reason for this being practice, though Naruto didn't want to lose too many people in this endeavor, and because of that only high ranked shinobi were allowed to go.

By the time that Konoha had allied with the Mist, Oto had allied with the Cloud and Rain. Naruto had respected Temari's decision to stay out of the war, however he did get her to agree to create a distraction if need-be. That's what the plan was for the Rain shinobi, to create a distraction so that troops may be snuck into the Leaf Village's proximity.

The Otokage had increased the training of the younger generation, taking them out of the academy a year earlier and making sure that they were assigned to a jounin instructor specifically based on their affinities. The Sound was developing shinobi that were trained to the limit of their abilities in the area that they were best in, whether it be tai, gen or nin jutsu.

Konoha: Tsunade's Office 

"Shikamaru, what makes you think that an attack will come soon?" asked Tsunade.

Shikamaru groaned, "The Sound has had enough time to prepare and certainly they know that several of our special jounin are out on an S-class mission. It's the most opportune time," he explained.

"There was about the same situation two years ago, and nothing happened," said Sasuke.

"We should increase our defenses regardless," countered Shikamaru.

Suddenly an ANBU rushed in, "Hokage-sama, Rain shinobi are attacking in the north-west!"

"The attack is beginning," said Shikamaru.

Tsunade jumped out of her chair, "We need to send our shinobi out there."

Shikamaru interrupted her, "If the Rain are attacking from the north-west, then the Sound and Cloud will attack from their borders."

Tsunade quickly considered his point, "True, we need to send troops out towards the Sound border and the north-east border. Get it done!" she commanded the ANBU; he bowed and disappeared.

"Shikamaru, what are our defenses like here?" asked Tsunade.

"Tower and gate guards mostly," he replied. "Dozens of shinobi, of all ranks, wondering around in the village."

"We should sent out some of the best ANBU towards the borders to stop the initial attacks and show them they won't even be able to enter the Fire Country," offered Sasuke.

"No," declared Shikamaru.

"Why not?" the Uchiha raised his voice.

"Consider Naruto's personality, his style is to hit as close to heart as possible," explained Shikamaru somewhat sadly. "The Rain and Sound borders are too far away for a proper effect."

"Then, what the hell do you think he's going to do? A direct attack on the village?" asked Sasuke incredulously. Shikamaru shrugged.

"Alright, I want to split it," ordered the Hokage. "I want half of the best ANBU teams out there on the border and half to stay in defense of Konoha."

The decision was reasonable, even though Shikamaru couldn't shake the bad feeling that the decisions they were making now were life deciding, but he knew better than to oppose the Hokage's orders.

About half an hour later, Shikamaru and Sasuke both came back to inform the Hokage that the ANBU teams and several jounin were sent off to the Rain and Sound borders.

"I still say that we should have sent the more powerful and experienced shinobi," said Sasuke.

Shikamaru sighed in annoyance and mumbled troublesome, "I keep telling you that the main attack cannot come so far from his real objective," he explained for what seemed like the hundredth time today.

Suddenly the three Leaf-nin felt a chill run up their spine and their skin crawl.

"You feel that?" asked Sasuke.

"What the hell was that?" asked Shikamaru.

Tsunade on the other hand, had a horrified look on her face. Sasuke was just about to ask her if she knew what it was, when an explosion was heard and the ground shook. The group looked out the window and saw black smoke coming from the main gate.

Right after they heard a loud roar and saw something red swaying behind the smoke.

"Oh god…" said Tsunade with her hand over her mouth.

"Wha…?" Sasuke wasn't able to finish. A wind blew and cleared the smoke temporarily, making the thing behind the smoke completely visible.

A giant deep-red fox with eight tails was towering over the destroyed main gate, its very light-blue almost white eyes were fixed on the Hokage tower, as if saying 'come out and fight me'.

* * *

Well I don't really know wat to say about this whole chapter...

its definitely better than the shit that i talked about to several ppl on AIM.

Vacation is over, I'm back at the university, so I dunno when the next chapter will be out.


	20. Judgement Day

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately). I do own all of my own characters.  
Thank you to all my reviewers! You ppl r so nice :-)  
"blah" speech  
'_blah'_ thoughts

**Peter Kim** - A bushin or genjutsu? Really now? I will let 20 and 21 answer your questions.

**Aiel** - But I wasn't going for funny.

**caro8** - I've always read all my reviews, good or bad. -innocently- Am I not supposed to? (j/k)

**Ookami Fuu** - That's not too bad of an idea for my next fic... If I use it, I'll give credit.

**sephynarutocloud** - my next fic will have a pairing, though i'm revealing what it is, I will say that it's not NaruHina (sry, but it's not unique enough)

**dalcacris** - cruel of me? -innocent look- Well perhaps a bit...

**Zhuyou** - well your the first to get it right; congrats.

**Monaki-cheung** - the time passed will be cleared up in this chapter.

**Shells** - The fox, during the fight w/ Jiraiya, was not a demon (only one tail). Yes.

**XAegisR** - I don't know what ppl think either...

**soulless** - nope, this is the first time.

**The-Pain-Of-A-Lost-Soul** - I don't hate you, but I'm sadistic too. (You should watch "Ichi the Killer" its entertaining for ppl like us)

**Nanashi** **Ouka** - I've never gotten a review like that b4...

**Itchino** - yea, i put a lot of my own random 'what ifs' into this story.

**xXFissshBonesssXx** - thank you for understand that reality comes b4 fiction.

**Julius Faust** - I do use Word... as for a beta, I might do that next story, but not now.

**Muraki Asato** - why secretly? I state it openly :

**blue 1/2** - that was actaully in refence to Naruto becoming the Otokage and coming to the Sand to talk treaties. Would u believe me if I said that in the beginning I thought I was horrible at battle scenes? Age... oops, I didn't put on my profile huh... Well I'll update that post my bday... I'm almost 19.

If you are going to flame me, then at least have your flame make LOGICAL sense. Otherwise I just write it off as ramblings of idiotic retards.

Of course I'm terribly sorry for the extremely long wait, but I had stuff to do... Hope this chapter is to ur liking.

* * *

Chapter 20 – Judgement Day

A solitary figure crotched in a tree a quarter of a mile outside of the Leaf Village, and watched calmly from behind his masking jutsu as a significant amount of ANBU, jounin and chuunin left the village making their way north.

"Perfect," he whispered. He jumped down onto the main road and calmly started walking towards Konoha.

Halfway to the gate he was stopped by two ANBU guards, "who goes there?" one of them yelled out. Both kept their distance from the blond-haired man who wore pants with a shuriken holder on each leg, a jacket with very loose sleeves, a facemask, and a half-cape half-robe that hung down to the man's knees, and a katana strapped to his back; all of his apparel was absolutely black. The man kept his head down so that the guards could not see his face. Another thing the guards didn't notice was the symbol of Sound, in red on the back of the cape.

In response to the question the man lifted up his head and smirked when the guards flinched at his red demon eyes, "y-y-you…" stuttered out the older ANBU, "the d-d-d-demon…" both quickly went into a fighting stance.

Naruto just smirked and pulled up his left sleeve, revealing the tattoo. The ANBU paused unsure what to make of this, and decided to just wait and see what happened; making their deadliest mistake.

Naruto bit his thumb and swiped the blood all the way along his forearm. A dozen hand seals later, he yelled "Youma Kuchiyose no Jutsu," and slammed his left hand on the ground.

The ground underneath Naruto and the ANBU was scorched black and in a cloud of black smoke a giant fox with eight tails appeared; one of its paws instantly killing both ANBU.

"Naruto-sama," said the fox, "you are in need to my help?"

"Yes, Hachbi," replied Naruto. "We are going to finish what your brother started."

The fox grinned a malicious smile and waved two of its tails in a special way. The ground under the main gate welled up and exploded taking out the entire gate and a portion of wall around it. Hachbi isolated every single chakra signature in the vicinity and focused his eyes on the strongest, which was in the Hokage Tower.

"Hachbi, I'm going to hide myself in your fur for a little while," said Naruto. "I need you to lead them away from the village, even if you have to pretend to be losing."

Hachbi grumbled, but agreed never the less and started to slowly make his way through the village destroying everything even slightly in his way.

)))))Hokage Tower(((((

"Hokage-sama, what the hell are we going to against another demon fox?" asked several dozen shinobi that had accumulated in the Hokage's office.

Tsunade silently walked to the scroll room and brought back the Forbidden Scroll, "We are going to face it head on," she said gravely. "Go, gather all the ANBU, jounin and chuunin and hold off the fox until I get there!" she ordered.

Everyone left to fulfill the order except one, "Tsunade-sama, are you really going to use the same jutsu as Yondaime?" asked Shizune in a saddened voice.

"Maybe I won't have to, but I better learn it anyway," replied Tsunade as she searched for the jutsu within the scroll. '_This is probably the only way,' _she thought sadly. '_Even if history has to repeat itself…'_

Many explosion and screams were heard as the demon fox was slowly being pushed out of the village. Tsunade had taken about an hour to learn the jutsu and another half hour to write her will; Shizune had stayed with her the entire time.

"Shizune, it's time to go," Tsunade said slowly. Shizune nodded gravely and left to get all her battle gear. As soon as she left Tsunade fell into her seat, "God, please don't let this turn out like it did 26 years ago," the Godaime Hokage prayed.

Meanwhile on the outskirts of the village, Hachbi was slowly letting the Leaf shinobi push him back, just as Naruto had requested. He suddenly felt that powerful chakra from before approaching him, '_finally some one stronger than these bugs,'_ he thought.

Naruto smirked as he also felt Tsunade approaching, '_finally, time to get the show on the road.'_

As soon as Tsunade arrived on the battlefield, she summoned her slug, Katsuyu.

"A demon fox?" asked Katsuyu.

"We have to fight him, and if worst comes to worst we'll seal him," answered Tsunade.

"Trying to be like the Yondaime?" asked Katsuyu jokingly.

"Hopefully not," replied Tsunade, thinking of how Naruto turned out.

"A slug?" scoffed Hachbi. "You're sending a slug after me?" he chuckled slightly.

Tsunade scowled and Katsuyu became slightly irritated at being underestimated, "Zesshi Nensan," she said (Sticky Mouth Acid). A stream of acid shot out of Katsuyu's mouth right at the fox.

Hachbi quickly sidestepped it and clawed at the slug, which dodged his attack by moving to the side. During this time, Katsuyu made a smaller replication of itself, which Tsunade threw onto the fox's side.

Out of the corner of his eye, Hachbi saw what the slug and its summoner had done and channeled chakra into the fur on its side.

"Kitsune Spiked Fur," calmly said the demon fox. The fur on the fox's side stood up in completely rigid and razor-sharp spikes. The thrown replication landed right in the spikes and died instantly.

"Shit!" cursed Tsunade.

The slug pulled its head back once more and shot out some more fluid, "Slime Covering." This time instead of the fluid being directed at the demon fox, it was shot right below him and spread out along the majority of the forest.

Hachbi leapt back a significant distance and watched cautiously as the slime spread out. '_From the looks of it, this substance must make th_e _ground incredibly slippery,'_ he observed how the slug had no problem moving along its surface, '_but this is probably a natural thing for slugs, hence it has no problem with it.'_

The demon fox's tails swung around violently and the ground shook, causing Katsuyu and the Konoha army to slow their approach. Suddenly a mist appeared and covered up the fox enough so that Tsunade and Katsuyu could not very well anticipate his next move.

"Damn it, I forgot that demon foxes have an affinity for Doton and Suiton," grumbled Tsunade.

Katsuyu, however, did not want to give the demon fox any kind of opportunity and rushed toward him. Once she was within the range of the fog, she was roughly flung to the side by a few of his tails.

Noticing that the demon fox had its back to them, the jounin decided that it was the opportune moment to blast it with fireballs. This however completely exposed their position to the demon fox and Naruto. So while Hachbi masterfully dodged the fireballs, Naruto carefully prepared a jutsu; by the time he was done Katsuyu had joined the ranks of jounin and chuunin that were hurling projectiles at the demon fox.

"Kinjutsu-Katon: Lake of Fire," rang out for everyone to hear. With only a slight delay, the ground beneath Katsuyu and several hundred meters around her was set aflame.

Dozens of shinobi perished in the initial flames, others jumped up on trees and were incinerated once the flames rose up to their proportional height (A/N: proportional to the radius of the lake), but many managed to escape from the flames and run to safety.

Katsuyu was having it a lot harder, since she was in the center of the fire. At first she tried to make her way out of the flames, but found that that would take too long. So instead she covered herself entirely in nonflammable slime. The only problem was that she had to constantly replace the layers, because the intense heat was melting them off.

After about two minutes the flames ceased, leaving behind scorched earth in the radius of the lake and small fires, still burning, on the outskirts.

Tsunade looked around to assess the damage and didn't like what she saw, '_Damn it! That killed several dozen shinobi and wasted half of Katsuyu's chakra,'_ she frowned, '_there is no way we can take another hit like that.'_ Suddenly she realized that the voice that had spoken the jutsu wasn't the same as that of the demon fox.

She looked up at the demon fox and found a person standing on top of its head. The blond-haired and black-clothed man stood out against the deep red of the fox.

"That couldn't be…" she mumbled.

"What, does the old hag not recognize me in her old age?" asked Naruto.

Tsunade scowled, "Naruto," she spat out, "you've released another demon fox onto the world."

"You don't have to make it sound so negative, you know," he replied calmly.

"So you plan to defeat us all with this demon?" she asked bitterly.

Naruto responded with laughter, "Just because you're on home territory doesn't mean you shouldn't be aware of your surroundings."

"I am quite aware that we managed to push you and this demon far from Konoha," replied Tsunade with confidence. "And we can continue pushing you away." As Tsunade said this, Katsuyu rushed at Hachbi.

Hachbi stood completely still, and right before Katsuyu made contact with him a giant pillar of flame shot out in between them and went upwards sky-high. Both parties appeared unscratched by the attack.

"You missed," taunted Tsunade. "Only wasting chakra again, just like when you were a little kid."

Naruto chuckled darkly, "I told you to be aware of your surroundings, but I guess that at that point it already didn't matter."

It suddenly clicked in Shikamaru's head, as he went completely pale, "the village," he softly mumbled.

"What was that, Shikamaru?" asked Sasuke, who was still wondering what the dobe meant by surroundings.

"Our surroundings…" Shikamaru trailed off.

"The dobe is just being stupid again, we managed to push the demon fox far from the village," said Sasuke arrogantly.

Shikamaru suddenly grabbed Sasuke by the collar and pulled his face close, "that's just it! Don't you get it? He _wanted_ us to push him away," explained Shikamaru. "That last attack, wasn't actually an attack." He released Sasuke and teleported next to Tsunade.

"Hokage-sama, we must retreat back to the village!" yelled Shikamaru.

"What non-sense are you blabbering the _demon_ is right in front of us," she said coldly.

"The pillar of flame wasn't an attack, it was a beacon," said Shikamaru desperately.

Tsunade whipped her head around to the sound of a distant explosion coming from Konoha.

"Not surprising that the genius Shikamaru has figured it out," Naruto nodded slowly in appreciation of Shikamaru's abilities.

"You planned to drive most of the shinobi out of the village by making yourself and the demon fox seem like the biggest threat," reasoned Shikamaru. Naruto motioned him to continue. "And now that we are all here, you have signaled your army to attack the village," concluded Shikamaru.

"Quite so," said Naruto. "Though I expected you to see through it. I mean, in a war, why would I simply attack you with just one summoning?"

"But the counter-argument is that the Kage of a village wouldn't want to put himself in such a vulnerable position unless it was absolutely necessary, in which case it would mean that the rest of your troops are out on the borders of the Fire Country," reasoned Shikamaru.

"But things aren't quite so, now are they?" asked Naruto slyly.

Tsunade turned to face her army, "everyone pull back and protect the village!" she ordered.

A shadow then passed over her and a few seconds later the ground rumbled to her side; the demon fox had leapt over Konoha's army and was now blocking their way back to the village.

"Did you really think I would let you go?" Naruto smirked darkly.

'_Shit!'_ Tsunade scowled and mentally cursed.

"Hachbi, I'm going to need you to occupy these people while I prepare a jutsu," said Naruto.

Hachbi nodded in understanding as he saw Naruto close his eyes in concentration and hold his hands in the beginning hand seal. Hachbi jumped at Tsunade and Katsuyu, just as Naruto started off his long sequence of seals.

Hachbi poured chakra into his paws, increasing his speed, and attacked Katsuyu from all sides in several seconds. Dodging was out of the question for the slug, as it was definitely not on par with the Hachbi in speed, so it was forced to take all the slashings to its sides.

Katsuyu managed to heal herself, but found she was running very low on chakra. When Hachbi eased off his attacks, Katsuyu tried to use the time given to slow the fox down by spraying the Zesshi Nensan at it, but Hachbi dodged and diverted his attention to attacking other shinobi.

Just as Hachbi landed from dodging Katsuyu's Zesshi Nensan, Naruto clapped his hands together and the sky above them darkened. Thick black clouds stretched outwards from right above Naruto, and spread in a spiral motion covering Katsuyu and Hachbi.

'_Not too bad on the timing, if I had waited I would have been rooted to the ground with the sticky stuff,'_ thought Hachbi. '_Now I just have to keep them away from Naruto without moving.'_

A tendril of chakra went around Naruto while his hands were together and disappeared as he started doing more hand seals. '_I hope Hachbi can keep everyone away from me, this jutsu requires too much concentration and precision,'_ mused Naruto as he was picking his way through the necessary seals.

Sasuke had his sharingan activated and was looking at Naruto, "he's releasing an incredible amount of chakra," he said. "Enough for half a dozen Karyuu Endans." '_To spend this much on one jutsu, what kind of monstrosity is he planning?'_

Tsunade has realized quickly enough that Naruto had to be interrupted before he was able to complete the jutsu, but despite her best efforts, Hachbi's defenses were not to be conquered. Between his tails and the constant shielding jutsus that he put around his head or just Naruto, neither she nor her troops were able to even scratch Naruto.

'_The kid better be getting done with his preparations, I can't hold these chakra-burning defenses for much longer.'_

Naruto had suddenly stopped making seals and held the last one for a little while before switching to the Ram-seal and holding it such that his middle and index fingers were touching the tip of his nose; his eyes still closed in concentration.

Naruto snapped open his eyes and locked them on Katsuyu, "Kinjutsu-Raiton: Lightning Storm no Jutsu!" he yelled.

A large bolt of lightning came out of the center of the storm clouds above them and hit Katsuyu dead on the head. As soon as that first bolt of lightning had come down, Hachbi jumped back, so as to clear the radius of the black clouds. In mid-air he watched as dozens of lightning bolts, thought each consecutively smaller than each previous one, rained down onto everything within the blast area.

The first lightning bolt that had hit Katsuyu split outwards from the slug to hit a dozen surrounding _living_ targets; frying and killing them instantly. The same was true if the smaller bolts hit any animate objects on their way down.

The smarter shinobi had jumped down to ground level hoping not to be hit by lightning and had, for the most part, been successful in avoiding death. Katsuyu had disappeared from chakra exhaustion and being dealt a fatal blow. Tsunade managed to jump down and raise a Doton Keikkai to absorb the lighting. Many experienced shinobi used Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu to hide underground and wait out the attack; among them was Sasuke. Shikamaru was not fast enough in getting off of Katsuyu and was the first to have the lightning jump to and incinerate.

When it was all over the black storm clouds swirled inwards and disappeared. The stench of burned flesh and clothing hung in the air. The survivors were mostly digging themselves out of the ground; only several had gotten lucky enough and managed to not get hit while sitting in the trees. Those were ones that were the most disturbed by what had happened. Not surprising really, watching their friends and comrades get hit while they were being left alive by simple luck, is unnerving for anyone.

The Konoha army had been decimated; those who were left were all surrounding blond-haired Otokage. Hachbi had left, since he was unfortunate enough to be hit with a lighting bolt and not have enough chakra to safeguard himself from very much of the damage. The bolt had of course split and hit Naruto as well, completely destroying his cape and leaving his jacket all tattered.

Naruto looked around at all the shinobi that were left and noted that he only recognized Kakashi, Gai, Sasuke and of course Tsunade. The Hokage, however, was well worn from the battle with Hachbi, trying to penetrate his defenses. Kakashi and Sasuke had used about half of their chakra on ninjutsus, so that left Gai as the most dangerous opponent. The others, while Naruto was sure that they could pull their weight, did not seem to concern him.

"Shall we?" asked Naruto, and disappeared jumping back and sticking a claw straight through an unprepared shinobi's throat. Within a split second, he felt a presence on both is left and right.

Jumping up and twisting his body he said, "Konoha Gouriki Senpuu." Adding a bit of chakra to his counter-attack he was able to break the neck of the first attacker and blast back the second attacker.

Gai's eyes narrowed, "How do you know that move?" he asked, bitter that his opponent knew techniques from his style.

"Itachi was a good teacher," Naruto smirked at the angry scowl on Sasuke's face. '_I'll throw him off balance with emotions and that'll be one less jounin to deal with.'_ While Naruto was talking he sensed a team of Sound jounin closing in on his position, '_How nice to know that people worry about you,'_ he smiled internally.

Just when Kakashi and Gai were going to attack together, Naruto's reinforcements showed up temporarily halting their attack. Naruto recognized his reinforcements to be one of the Sound's advanced ANBU squads and nodded in acknowledgement and gratitude of presence.

Before the invasion all Sound shinobi were briefed on the different bloodlines of Konoha, the doujutsu bloodlines especially. So the ANBU team that had arrived to help Naruto knew that they would not be able to handle the two sharingan users and it was understood that Naruto would be the one to take them on. Thus making the reinforcements' job relatively simple: to keep all the other enemies away from Naruto until he managed to disable and/or kill Kakashi and Sasuke.

Once again Naruto made the first move by attacking Kakashi. The silver-haired jounin was able to predict Naruto's attack completely with his sharingan eye and so blocked it and was about to do a counter-attack when he suddenly felt a presence behind him. He realized that Naruto had used the Kage Bushin and was now attacking him from the back. '_How come I wasn't able to see when he used the Kage Bushin?'_ wondered Kakashi as he jumped out of the way of the attack.

The two Naruto's were standing in a battle stance facing Kakashi when suddenly one of them looked down and saw a hand grab his ankle and pull him underground. Kakashi instantly figured that if Naruto was allowing himself to be pulled underground then it must be a clone, so he instead attacked the other Naruto.

Kakashi reached Naruto at the same time that Naruto's clone had been pulled down to his neck, but even in that second and a half Naruto had not made any attempt to dodge or prepare a block and by the time Kakashi realized what was going on it was too late; both Naruto's exploded. Kakashi was thrown back quite harshly and into a far tree, while Sasuke was blown out of the ground and shot into mid-air.

It was in mid-air, that Sasuke saw chakra strings wrap themselves around him and tighten before he could respond. Sasuke was then roughly pulled down and thrown into a tree. On impact with the tree, the chakra strings seemed to merge with the tree and turn hard as rock. Needless to say they practically bound Sasuke to the tree.

With Sasuke disabled and being watched over by his clone, for the time being, Naruto now had a bit of time to fight with his genin sensei one-on-one. Not being one to underestimate the copy-ninja, Naruto didn't even give Kakashi enough time to straighten out before he delivered a savage kick to Kakashi's stomach, sending him back into the same tree. Kakashi coughed a bit as he angrily looked up at Naruto.

"Kakashi, you're slipping," said Naruto in a disappointed tone. "I was expecting a Kawarimi or a Kage Bushin."

"KibakuKage Bushin, eh?" asked Kakashi.

"It makes clones a bit more useful, especially against high-level opponents," reasoned Naruto as he made vines break out of the tree behind Kakashi and disable the copy-ninja. "A normal clone after it's hit just goes poof, but these explode and punish the opponent for destroying the clone at close range." Kakashi fought against the restraints, but found them to be chakra infused and he certainly did not have enough strength or chakra to get out of them.

Naruto turned around to see that one of his shinobi had been killed and the others were getting overpowered my Gai and Tsunade. '_Tsunade is being a pain, but I kind of want to talk to her… so I guess Gai will have to die,'_ thought Naruto as he unsheathed his katana.

Naruto used the opportunity, when Gai was attacking one of the Sound shinobi, to attack Gai from behind. Gai had not expected this, since he had kept track of the other two Sound shinobi and knew that they were fighting Tsunade.

'_Who would that be, a clone?'_ wondered Gai as he blocked the kick to his head, only to catch the small glimmer of a katana. '_Oh no! I forgot about Naruto.'_

Naruto had attacked Gai from the top and performed a downward kick, so that when he blocked his mid-section would be completely open. Naruto used this opening and slashed at Gai with his sword. He had opted for a deep cut expecting Gai to be wearing armor or weights, and was surprised when the katana easily slid through the Leaf shinobi's mid-section, spraying out blood all over the place.

Tsunade had just blasted away one of the Sound ANBU with a punch right to the jaw, when she heard Gai's scream. She looked in the aforementioned direction to see Naruto do a flip and land, with his katana unsheathed and blood dripping off the blade, with his back to Gai, whose stomach was spewing out blood like a geyser.

Naruto was about to perform another vine-entrapment jutsu, when suddenly he felt a little lightheaded, "Damn it! Those vines are chakra taxing," cursed Naruto under his breath.

"Sir, I trained under Miya-sama, I could do a vine jutsu to the Hokage," suggested the Sound ANBU by Naruto's side. "However, I don't know any that wouldn't inflict harm on the prisoner."

"That is quite alright, I don't care if you have to poison her," said Naruto, and then recalculated their position. "In fact, I leave you two to finish her off. She's low on chakra and as long as you don't get into close range you'll be fine. You're the team's long-range fighter anyway, right?" the ANBU nodded. "Good, so take care of her and I'm gonna have a talk with these two."

Naruto walked over to Sasuke, "well, you're up first," he said.

"What do you have to say to me, filthy traitor?" spat out Sasuke.

"Now, now Sasuke, don't want to be insulting yourself there," countered Naruto.

"I made up for my crimes against the village," responded the Uchiha.

"No, that pathetic village simply forgave their _precious Uchiha_. They had no idea, nor did they ever want to find out the truth about how great your brother was and what kind of noble service he did for them. No… those damned idiots always took things at face value, _never_ bothering to dig below the surface," yelled Naruto. "And you're just like the rest of them, even if it's an issue that is so close to heart."

"What the hell would you know about that bastard?"

"And what about you Sasuke? You didn't even bother getting to know your brother. It was always about power and recognition for you. You know what, I'll tell you the truth about why Itachi killed your clan and _afterwards _you can truly judge if your brother was a good and bad person."

"Humph," was the sound heard out of Sasuke.

"You know that the Uchiha Clan isn't considered a noble clan, right?" Sasuke nodded. "You also know that the Uchiha were the police force for Konoha, right?" Sasuke nodded again.

"So, what does this have to do with anything?" he yelled.

"Shut up and listen!" Naruto punched the Uchiha in the face.

"Well at about the same time that Itachi was born the elders proposed a plan, which would give them enough leverage to force Konoha to give them the nobility title."

"What the hell do you mean by, _force_?" asked Sasuke.

"Their plan was to build strong connections with the village council and the majority of the village people, that were mostly based on money and dark favors, that would then allow them to ask for that large _favor_ of being made into nobility," Sasuke raised his eyebrows in amazement and disbelief.

"By using their law enforcement powers and their honorable reputations, the Uchiha clan set out to corrupt Konoha's powerful and make them help the Uchiha in achieving their desires. Anyone that disagreed with what the Uchiha wanted were arrested and charged with crimes they didn't commit. To make sure that the village council did not find out what they were doing, the Uchiha did secret missions for the council; payment being favors that the council members would owe them. Thus it continued while Itachi was growing up."

"Surely you remember the night before it all happened, when Itachi was accused of killing his best friend, Shisui," Sasuke nodded dumbly not knowing what to expect next.

"Well, with the exception of the elders, your father and Shisui, were the ones who wanted this change the most and were willing to go to great lengths to accomplish it. Itachi did not want for this kind of change to occur, he knew what this title caused to happen within the Hyuga and he also knew about the Namouza Clan that had wiped themselves out after breaking apart. Itachi wanted the clan to continue living in honor as it had done till then, but knew that he would not be listened to; he knew that he had to find another way to make them change their minds.

However, any ideas he may have had were flushed down the drain when he found out, the council would give the Uchiha anything they wanted as soon as they did one last mission for them. The assignment was to rid Konoha of a certain demon," Sasuke's eyes widened at this. "Yes Sasuke, the village council hated me, but lets not stray from the story too much.

You may not realize or believe, but Itachi was a very loyal and honorable shinobi. He respected the Yondaime and what he had to sacrifice in order to save the village. So the night of the Kyuubi container's assassination Itachi intercepted the Uchiha assassin and fought him to the death. Thus killing his best friend, Shisui.

That night, the Uchiha had specifically arranged a secret meeting, to prove to anyone in doubt that Uchiha Itachi was a traitor to their cause. Only two people were missing from that meeting, Itachi and Shisui, and the latter was supposed to be missing. They knew that Shisui would not commit suicide on the night of such an important mission and they also knew that Itachi wouldn't just miss a clan meeting, so they automatically knew how Shisui died." Naruto paused to look at Sasuke and judge his reaction.

"Well, then what about the whole thing of measuring his strength?" asked Sasuke.

"It was a way to test his honor and loyalty to the village. You know he left you with the burden of reconstructing the clan. He also took on the image of the corrupted Uchiha and wanted you to hate him because of it, so that the rebuilt clan would never do that kind of thing. He even directed you to the room that had all the information about the whole operation."

"I was there, there was nothing there except a scroll about the Mangekyou," said Sasuke angrily.

"You idiot, of course they wouldn't have the documents lying around in plain view," yelled Naruto. "They were concealed by genjutsu, or did you not bother going there after you acquired the sharingan?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes in anger and shook his head.

"That's an elaborate story you got there," said the Uchiha heir coldly.

"Itachi wanted to tell you after you had gotten stronger, but you seemed too hell-bent on revenge."

"I needed power for revenge," yelled Sasuke.

"Haven't you ever heard that true strength comes from protecting your precious people?"

"So what?"

"So, that you're brother wanted you to have precious people to protect," Naruto said in exasperation.

"Then why leave me all alone?"

"He thought it would be better for you. He thought that with him around you would become too dependent."

Sasuke smirked darkly, "I'd like to believe you, but it's a little too late for that," he said as he broke free of the vines and rushed at a crouching Naruto with his Chidori blazing.

Naruto just shook his head; he had loosened the vines around Sasuke while he was telling him the truth.

"Plus what's wrong with the Uchiha clan becoming nobility?" asked Sasuke. "I deserve it, after all the shit I've been through."

"I thought you might say something like that," mumbled Naruto and easily sidestepped Sasuke's Chidori to appear behind him with a fully charged Rasengan. "Game over, Sasuke." Naruto plunged his attack straight into Sasuke's back, killing him as soon as his spine was ripped apart.

"And so the mighty Uchiha clan falls; the sharingan never to be seen again."

Naruto walked over to Kakashi, "You could have confirmed the story for him, you know," he told the silver-haired ninja that was still trying hard to break his restraints.

"I didn't know the truth," responded Kakashi.

"Sure you did, Obito was Shisui's brother. Surely you must have kept in touch, at least enough to learn how to use the sharingan."

"I suspected something wrong, but that's all. I could neither confirm nor contradict your story," Kakashi answered simply.

"You know, I could let you go," offered Naruto. "You'll just have to promise not to mess with the Sound."

"Go to hell!" spat out Kakashi. "I would die for my village, unlike some."

"I would die for my village too, but I'm not a Leaf supporter, so I'm terribly sorry if I choose not to die for them," Naruto ended sarcastically.

Realizing that Kakashi would not take his offer and would be a bother if left alive, Naruto sighed and held his katana over Kakashi's heart. "For old times sake," he quickly pushed the katana forward, instantly killed the copy-ninja.

Naruto turned around to see a very worn out Tsunade, whose genjutsu was even slipping, being overpowered by his soldiers. He sighed, wondering why it all had to end in death.

"Finish her off and scout out the area for anyone living," ordered Naruto as he jumped off in the direction of Konoha. '_A slow pace will do me just fine. After all I did use up a good eighty percent of my chakra and stamina.'_

"I wonder how things are going with Miya's attack?" he wondered out loud with a slight hint of worry. '_Even if I did manage to split the forces in half, there weren't very many Hyuga on my battle field.'_

* * *

Believe it or not, I didn't want to kill Shikamaru, I like him... he's a sloth, much like me... but it's a war and he's just not needed in the story anymore... and u can think of it as him finally being reunited w/ Ino... (aren't I nice? ... No... I'm horribly evil, that seems to be the general concensus.) 

And before you start asking me anything about the Namouza Clan: I just made up a name ok.

Next chapter, iono when its gonna come out... I hope to have it out soon though. I feel like I owe you sumthin in the next chapter... oh yea, Yondaime's letter... you'll the contents...

kudos to Chirishman for correcting that minor yet deadly mistake.

**spoiler: **life goes a full circle  
if u can figure what that means...


	21. Failed Spiral

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately). I do own all of my own characters.  
Thank you to all my reviewers! You ppl r so nice :-)  
"blah" speech  
'_blah'_ thoughts

**place-your-name-here** - sry, but i'm not playing off the ever-lasting scenerio.

**Peter Kim** - hey thanx, you really helped me out w/ the list of ppl that were still alive :-). As for Shizune, I'll give u ur pick, burning in the lake of fire or fried in the lightning storm... I'm leaving her as an unaccounted casualty of war.

**xXFissshBonesssXx** - You actually saw the Leaf as friendly? Thank you for the flattery :-)

**200 IQ** - I really could care less who Shikamaru gets paired w, in this fic it was Ino, in my next fic it might Temari or no one at all.

**sephynarutocloud** - ok, I admit that the hint was quite vague, but somehow I had assumed that the ending was more or less visible from the reader's standpoint...

**whohasamonkey** - Kage Bushins appear real under sharingan and byakugan.

**vampchic** - That's a good idea! I'll make sure to use that in my next fic. -evil grin-

**Binnybobarino** - You have to understand that the kinjutsus Naruto uses, most high-lvl jounin don't even have enough chakra to perform. Lake of Fire and Lightning Storm drain btwn 15-25 depending on power/intensity and radius; and Naruto used them for 100+ of their destructive power. As much as I would like it, Naruto is not a God; he has limits.

You'll get the extra long version of A/Ns at the bottom of the chapter.

* * *

Chapter 21 – Failed Spiral

All the teams were in position. Fully equipped and well rested, waiting silently, and somewhat anxiously for their leader to give them permission to scale and/or destroy the walls, which lay no more than two hundred yards in front of them. They had silently witnessed as both armies left the village, one to fight the Rain and Cloud on the borders of the Fire Country and the other to fight the demon fox, which their leader had summoned.

Miya was sitting in tree overlooking her regiment, using chakra every so often when the ground shook from the movements of the summons. No one in the Sound except her knew what the beacon looked like, for security reasons Naruto never showed anyone, but it was one of those one-of-a-kind jutsu that you can't mistake for anything else.

'_He sure is taking his sweet time,'_ thought Miya, as she observed that the Leaf army was sufficiently far out of the village. She scoffed at the Leaf's stupidity when they were blasting the demon fox with fireballs, '_While Kyuubi may have been afflicted with Doton and Suiton, his brother, Hachbi, is afflicted with Katon and Suiton. You may as well be giving the fox chakra, since he absorbs any kind of fire. One size does not fit all, but these people are too ignorant to realize things like this.'_

Miya was about to wonder how come the ground hadn't shook in such a long while, when she saw a pillar of flame go sky high, '_The Beacon!'_

She instantly shifted her attention down to her regiment and shouted, "The beacon has been lit!" She jumped down to the ground and looked about fifty yards in front of her regiment, to a solitary figure sitting on the ground. "Jiro, you're up!" she shouted.

The Sound-nin, by the name of Jiro, slowly got up and did several hand seals before slamming his palms into the ground, "Doton: Doryo Dango," he shouted. Within several seconds he was holding a giant mud cannonball, twenty yards in diameter. After a bit of weight adjustment, he gathered all his strength and threw it, at high speed, straight into Konoha's wall.

A loud explosion resonated through the forest and a dust cloud rose up above the impact area. By the time the explosion was heard, Miya's regiment was already halfway to the wall, and before the dust had a chance to settle Sound-nin were already in the village.

The explosion was bound attract attention and that was exactly what the Sound shinobi were counting on. There were two regiments to the left and right of Miya's that would silently infiltrate Konoha and act as backup for Miya's regiment.

Asuma was one of the few jounin left to guard the village. He had wanted to be out on the front lines with his friends, but knew the importance of the position he had been given. Asuma looked at his team and scanned the surroundings for the hundredth time now. '_Something is definitely amiss, I've been having shivers run down my spine since we first started patrolling.'_

Under his command was one his old students, Chouji, who had made it up to high-level chuunin despite his injuries and two other chuunin, whom he had met only in passing, and had no real experience with. Snapping out of his thought Asuma noticed that they were coming up on Kurenai's location, '_We should stop and trade information, and I'll ask if she's having the same bad feeling I am. She did always…'_

However before Asuma could even finish his thought, the wall slightly behind them blew apart. The whole team stopped dead in their tracks for a second before exchanging quick glances and running there. Within a minute they had arrived.

They stood on rubble that had just a minute ago been a wall. They didn't have to wait long to find out who had done this, as a rain of shuriken fell on top of them. Asuma's team easily dodged or deflected them, but had gotten split in two. Asuma and Chouji were standing face to face with two Sound jounin, while the other two chuunin were facing two more Sound jounin.

'_Those two are barely mid-level chuunin, they won't be able to handle two jounin,'_ thought Asuma. '_But it's not like I will be able to help them very quickly either.'_

Asuma quickly did a couple of hand seals and two Kage Bushin appeared next to him. But before he could send them to help the chuunin, hundreds of earth spikes came up all around them. Asuma and Chouji managed to jump away with only a minor cut on the ankle and thigh, respectively; Asuma's Kage Bushin were instantly destroyed.

Jiro looked sideways at Asuma and Chouji, "That's genin-level usage of the Kage Bushin… but it seems that your friends didn't fare as well as you did."

Asuma spared a glace at his companions, only to see them being single-handedly slaughtered by a green-haired Sound jounin. Asuma's frown soon turned into an angry scowl, "You'll all pay for that!"

Jiro laughed at Asuma and nodded to his teammate, "Takedo."

As Jiro finished his hand seals, Takedo nodded back and vanished from sight, slightly startling Asuma. "Doton: Land Bind," said Jiro as he pressed his palms to the ground.

Asuma had seen this jutsu before so was able to evade it and Chouji had already activated his Baika no Jutsu and as soon as the ground had started to move around him he had begun Meat Tank no Jutsu. Jiro used Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu to escape the Meat Tank, and started doing seals while underground. "Doton: Surface Quicksand," he said channeling chakra into the ground above him. This was meant to at least slow down, if not completely stop Chouji. Fortunately for the Sound-nin, Chouji had stopped his attack when he was unable to find his opponent, so as soon as he came out of the spin he was instantly caught in the quicksand.

Asuma wasn't fairing against his opponent any better. As soon as Chouji had rolled off, Takedo appeared behind him with a drawn katana ready to slice Asuma in half. The veteran Leaf-nin barely managed to block with his own daggers, making the katana only cut his vest. The Sound-nin did not relent his attack even a little bit and continued to press Asuma until he had managed to cut a tendon on Asuma's left shoulder. Satisfied that the Leaf-nin's left arm hung useless, Takedo kicked Asuma in the left part of his back and then jumped back into a defensive position.

Asuma, meanwhile, was calculating the maximum amount of damage he could inflict upon Takedo, since he knew that he could not come out as the victor. While surveying his surrounding he glanced to the side and saw a wall of earth rise up around Chouji who had been captured by the quicksand; Asuma felt a pain in his heart knowing that another student and friend of his was going to die. However a long ways past Chouji, Asuma saw Kurenai weaving a genjutsu around that green-haired Sound-nin; Asuma smiled a little.

Takedo followed his opponent's gaze and scoffed, "Do you really think a team of only four Sound jounin attacked this part of the village?"

Asuma instantly realized the validity of the Sound-nin's question. "You threw yourselves in as bait?" he asked Takedo.

"Yes and our reinforcements will close around your own shinobi as soon as they all come here," Takedo smirked darkly. "A sort of fly trap, not that we need it," noticing Asuma's confused look he decided to elaborate. "You, a jounin, didn't even make me use my second blade. The green-haired one that you saw your comrade casting the genjutsu on, used to be part of the Akatsuki," Asuma's eyes widened and Takedo laughed.

Takedo suddenly stopped laughing and put on a completely cold demeanor, "Game over," he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Asuma realized too late that he had been talking to a Kage Bushin. He felt a quick pain in his back and chest, but his world darkened too fast for him to realize exactly what happened.

Takedo walked up to Jiro, who was climbing out of the ground, "I know we're considered elite, but this is a joke."

"They were weak and you know it," replied Jiro.

"Did they really send out anyone who could stand up to us to fight against Naruto-sama?"

"We haven't even gotten more than two hundred yards into the village," countered Jiro, "I'm sure we'll have some formidable opponents."

"I hope so, either way we gotta go help Miya-sama."

Miya found herself slowly being pulled into a mid-level genjutsu. She kicked her last opponent away and sent a kunai right after him, so that when he hit the tree the kunai pinned his heart to it. During the kick, Miya snuck a peek to her side, '_Must be that red-eyed one doing the genjutsu… and Jiro and Takedo look to be finishing up with their opponents.'_

Miya quickly did a few hand seals, "Dokumori: Poison Seeds," she whispered and threw a few needles to Kurenai's feet; upon landing the needles disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Kurenai smirked and continued focusing chakra.

'_Good,'_ thought Miya, '_she thinks those were Kage Bushin and that I am actually disoriented from her initial genjutsu.'_ Miya quickly activated her Mind Bubble, which made it so that half of her mind felt the effects of the genjutsu while the other half didn't; the one that didn't feel the effects was the one in control. '_Dual layer genjutsu, first layer to disorient me and allow her access to my nerves. The second layer creates the illusion that I am captured by a tree and then she appears right behind me to slip my throat… well, nice try, but it's time to break it.'_

Miya dispersed the Mind Bubble that was containing her real mind and forced control over to herself. Kurenai noticed the counter too slow and was swept off the feet and punched into the nearest building. Before she had even slid to the ground a kunai was already imbedded into her stomach.

Kurenai coughed up a bit of blood, "How did you? You were trapped, I made sure."

"A part of mind was trapped yes, but most of my conscious was isolated from your genjutsu," Miya was about to finish off Kurenai when she felt a chakra signature closing in fast from her right. Instinctively Miya dodged, barely escaping a fireball. '_Shit! I got too careless.'_

Sakura ran up to Kurenai and quickly pulled out the kunai and started a simple medical jutsu, to close the wound. In several second the wound was mostly healed, since it wasn't so deep. "Thanks Sakura."

Miya narrowed her eyes at the new comer, '_Short pink hair, body build, chakra quantity and distribution… I think this one is Haruno Sakura, a newly appointed jounin, but more importantly Naruto's genin teammate.'_ Upon hearing Kurenai's words Miya's suspicion was confirmed.

"Haruno Sakura," Sakura whipped her head around, surprised that the Sound-nin knew her. "Naruto-kun's former teammate and a newly appointed jounin, after being an academy teacher for a prolonged period of your chuunin career."

Sakura's eyes narrowed at the mention of her teammate's name, "You seem to know a lot about me, why don't you introduce yourself?"

"That is not really necessary, but if u must know who is going to kill you then I will just say that my name is Miya."

Kurenai jumped a little at that, "You're one of the two remaining members of the Akatsuki," Miya nodded. "Sakura, you can't take her on. Retreat and gather up a force of stronger jounin."

Sakura scowled at being called weak and held her ground, "No, I will fight her."

"No, are you crazy? This is suicide," yelled Kurenai.

"I will prove I'm strong," whispered Sakura.

Kurenai sighed, knowing that she would not be able to talk her pink-haired comrade out of it. "Fine, but I'll back you up," Sakura nodded. Sakura quickly started making hand seals, followed closely behind by Kurenai.

'_They are both genjutsu users, they are each weaving different genjutsus around me…'_ she frowned. '_Mind Bubble is out since one of them can keep sustaining the genjutsu while the other attacks, and I can't move while in the Mind Bubble.'_ Miya quickly jumped towards the Leaf-nin, attacking with taijutsu and doing several seals for the Cobra Strike.

However she never made it, Kurenai was focusing on the outer layer genjutsu; and this time she was using the highest lever she knew. Miya fell to her knees holding her head. Sakura grinned thinking that Miya was done for. Sakura was greatly surprised when Miya slowly stood up, shook her head, and closed the distance between herself and Sakura in less than half a second delivering a mighty punch to Sakura's mid-section quickly followed up by a kick to Sakura's right elbow and finally a spin kick right under Sakura's chin; Sakura was sent flying backwards.

After the dust cloud had cleared from her landing, Sakura looked around to understand what had gone wrong. That was when she saw a man with a katana standing behind Kurenai.

"Genjutsu users… slow on the defensive," he watched the blood drip off his blade. "I trust you can take her?" he motioned to Sakura as he let Kurenai's body fall freely unto the ground.

"Yes, go on ahead," Takedo nodded and jumped off toward the center of the village.

As soon as Takedo had gone Miya turned her attention back to Sakura. "Genjutsu is quite useful, but only under the right circumstances," she explained quietly. "Like when your opponent isn't aware of you or simply doesn't see you. Or when you have someone to hold off the opponent while you trap them in the genjutsu. Otherwise, you are completely exposed to your enemy's attack." Sakura had gotten up while Miya was talking and was working on a healing jutsu for her fractured elbow, which was proving difficult since she had a really hard time making seals. "So you see, a genjutsu user is a team player and very rarely can one do much alone," Miya cocked her head to the side. "Do you see any teammates around?"

Sakura flinched at the implication, but kept her concentration on channeling healing chakra to her elbow.

"But you already knew that… you recently became the Hokage's apprentice because you knew that genjutsu alone wouldn't be able to keep you alive against Naruto," Miya snickered. "What chance to you have against Naruto, if you can't even beat me? He was trained by the best of the best of the Akatsuki. Trained to be a killer, a mass shinobi killer. Trained to be able to take on one of your Sannin and walk away with minor wounds." Sakura frowned at what had become of Naruto.

"You frown now, but you didn't give a damn when he was young. Always infatuated with that idiot who couldn't take on Itachi even if Itachi did not have the Mangekyou," Miya sighed. She was getting worked up; there was no need to get worked up. These people were just a bunch of fools.

She sighed again, "I'm done with you," she held up her index and middle fingers in front of her mouth and channeled the appropriate chakra. At first Sakura did not understand what the Sound-nin had done, but soon she was a thin layer of green smoke cloud her vision. Looking down she saw the poison coming up from little balls on the ground; she started coughing.

"The needles I threw during my battle with Kurenai were actually those balls in Henge; Poison Seeds, I call them. They take root in the ground and expel poison once activated," Sakura tried to stomp them out, but was only laughed at by Miya. "You can't destroy them once they have taken root. This technique is usually useless, since most of my opponents are taijutsu/ninjutsu oriented, so they move around a lot and are quite conscious of what is below their feet. Genjutsu users are less attentive, especially a newly appointed jounin, who is still in the beginning stages of mixing medical jutsu and genjutsu into an effective fighting style."

Sakura was feeling light headed as if her body did not have enough air, but she could breathe just fine. She ran a quick diagnostic scan on herself and was horrified to find the poison was tearing apart her lungs. As soon as she realized what exactly was happening her chest began to hurt like hell. She had lost a complete sense of what Miya was saying; all her senses seemed to concentrate on the pain in her chest. She desperately tried to heal herself, but it just wasn't working. She thought she heard Miya saying something about not being able to extract the poison, but she wasn't sure, neither did she care. Try as she might, she knew that she was going to die and that she was still weak. That she had failed her friends, family and her village.

Sakura died a slow painful death, her face contorted in a silent scream.

Once she noticed that Sakura was past the point of no return, Miya just walked off leaving Sakura to die alone. '_I better take a look around and see how the other teams are doing.'_ She ran off toward the center of the village where most of the fighting would likely be concentrated.

'_The demon fox had been unsummoned sometime during my battle with the genjutsu users. Naruto specifically ordered that no one approach the forest battle ground until after the demon fox was gone. Really I shouldn't worry, Naruto's reinforcements, namely fifty jounin and chuunin are going to comb through what's left of Konoha's army searching for threats (AKA survivors) and making sure Naruto is alright,'_ by now Miya was completely absorbed in her thoughts.

'_So if everything goes according to plan he should be in the village in several minutes,' _Miya concluded. '_And if he is really hurt, I'll find the person that did it and chop them up into little pieces and use them as fish bait for the rest of my life.'_

)))))In the Forest(((((

Naruto was leaning against a tree, gasping for breath, "Note to self: don't run at full speed when low on chakra."

Suddenly Naruto heard some faint rustling up ahead of him. Naruto quickly pulled out three shuriken and launched them into the foliage. No sooner had the shuriken disappeared from view they were deflected back out and Naruto heard some people cursing; he prepared himself for strong opponents.

"Otokage-sama, is this a test of our ninja skills?" he heard coming out of the bush, before a Sound-nin stepped out, whom Naruto instantly recognized.

"Kenji, what the hell are you doing here?" asked Naruto.

"Searching for you of course," answered Kenji as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"You were assigned as the top medical team for the invasion," said Naruto calmly, "so could you please tell me what you are doing _outside the village_?"

"Well you are part of the invasion, and as you said yourself we are the top medical team. And the Otokage reserves the best medic-nin, so here we are," explained Kenji; Naruto grimaced.

While Naruto and Kenji argued about the slight inconsistency and ambiguity of Naruto's orders, the medics had healed Naruto's minimal wounds and had given him a special soldiers pill, to refill his supernatural chakra capacity. Halfway through Naruto had given up the argument and was content to know that Kenji's team would follow him back to Konoha and carry out their original orders.

"See? That took like twenty minutes and you're back at a hundred percent," laughed Kenji. Naruto just sighed and started running towards Konoha, with Kenji's team trying to keep up.

Naruto arrived at the main gate to see that half of it was gone and the other was flung completely open. From inside the village faint explosions could be heard and several pillars of smoke were visible.

"Any word from our allies?" inquired Naruto while walking through the main gate.

"The Cloud said that they were easily able to break through the Leaf shinobi," replied Kenji. "There hasn't been any word from the Rain yet."

"The Leaf-nin on the Cloud's front will probably retreat back to Konoha, we will need to be prepared for them," said Naruto. "And also send a team to find out what is happening with the Rain."

"Otokage-sama, the Cloud messenger said that the Cloud army would follow the Leaf shinobi as far as Konoha and help in their extermination."

"Great," said Naruto with a small smirk. "Now that I'm here, direct all the messengers to me or if I can't be found Miya or one of our generals."

"Yes, sir!" bowed Kenji and left with his team.

Naruto took a deep breath and slowly let it out, "So Konoha, we meet once more." Naruto then ran off towards the Hokage monument.

Halfway to his destination, Naruto heard a loud explosion quite close to him and decided to stop and investigate, maybe help if the situation required it. So he rapidly changed direction and soon landed on top of a building overlooking the fight. He instantly recognized both sides.

There were two Sound-nin and two Leaf-nin. The Leaf-nin were Tenten and a Hyuga, while the Sound-nin were both part of the Onpasaki clan. '_The Hyuga is dealing with the short-range combat and Tenten is helping doing all the long-range fighting,'_ observed Naruto. '_But this has already been tested five years ago, the Onpasaki clan _were_ able to defeat the Hyuga clan. I wonder why this battle is taking so long?'_ wondered Naruto until he took a closer look at the Sound shinobi, and almost gave away his position by laughing out loud. '_Of course, those are the Onpasaki twins, the two prodigies.'_

Suddenly a barrage of kunai and shuriken was launched at Naruto who had managed a Kawarimi with his Kage Bushin, and so was now sitting on the wall of the building looking over at Tenten. "Let me guess, the Hyuga found me and you just decided to make me join the battle, so that there were no unknowns, right?"

Tenten immediately recognized who it was and gasped; the Sound shinobi also recognized their leader and bowed slightly in a formal acknowledgement.

"Ayaka, we can't win this, the best strategy right now is to run," said Tenten to her companion.

"No, I will not run away from my opponents," said the Hyuga arrogantly.

Naruto chuckled, "Just like Neji, I see. A Hyuga prodigy that thinks everyone is below her."

The Hyuga snorted, "I'm nothing like Neji, I'm from the Main Family and I don't die on simple rescue missions."

"Main Family? Didn't I kill everyone in the Main Family?" asked Naruto.

Ayaka's eyes narrowed in anger, "So you were the one that killed Hanabi. I have trained to avenge her death and now I will do so."

Naruto sighed and looked over at the two Sound shinobi, "Would you two twins please finish her off."

Ayaka smirked, "As if those two could even lay a finger on me."

That last statement got the twins riled; one of them went through a series of quick hand seals and launched a sound blast right at the Hyuga. Ayaka simply did a Kaiten to deflect the attack. Tenten used this time to attack the twins by throwing several spiked spheres with explosive tags at them.

The twins had anticipated this and the second one had already prepared a wind jutsu that knocked away the explosive spheres. By the time the wind jutsu was done the first twin had already prepared his next ninjutsu, "Fracture Waves." Ayaka was about to laugh and say that nothing happened when Tenten suddenly screamed and fell down holding her knees.

The Hyuga suddenly noticed that only one of the Sound-nin was standing in front of her. Using her Byakugan she instantly spotted the second one firing off some sort of attack at her from behind, so she activated her Kaiten without even thinking; after all the Kaiten was an ultimate defense.

"Decibel Overload," he calmly said and fired off his attack despite the fact that Ayaka was within her Kaiten. Within several seconds the Kaiten broke apart and Ayaka was on the ground holding her head and screaming in pain.

"Not so ultimate, huh?" asked Naruto.

Tenten was watching in horror as Ayaka just kept screaming, "What the hell happened to her?"

"The Onpasaki clan's blood limit is the ability to manipulate pure sound waves," explained Naruto. "While most sound waves are created using chakra, the Onpasaki clan is able to create sound waves without using chakra," Naruto threw two shuriken at Ayaka's head to put her out of her misery.

"That's how Hinata died, isn't it?" asked Tenten.

"That would have been our father's work, he was the one at the Oto-Konoha meeting," replied one of the twins, that had appeared behind her and knocked her out as soon as he said that. "Should we kill her?"

"Wouldn't want clan secrets out in the open, now would you?" asked Naruto.

"No, I suppose not," the one behind her sighed and slit her throat.

"How is the situation in the village?" inquired Naruto.

"Most of the fighting is taking place in the middle of the village," they reported. "There are of course some isolated fights on the outskirts. As ordered our clan is specifically searching out the 'white eyes' most of which were within their manor and were pretty easily taken out by several Doton and Sound jutsu while they were still unawares. A small party was obviously trying to get someone important out of the manor, so we and several others followed them and here we are."

Naruto nodded in approval, "Good, good. Anyone know where Miya is?" the twins both shook their head.

Naruto sighed and waved a little goodbye before heading for the Hokage monument again; the twins jumped of in the other direction. But he didn't get more than a hundred yards before he was attacked by a kick from the side. Naruto didn't even bat an eye; he turned around in mid-air, grabbed his attacker's leg, pulled him closer and punched him in the stomach.

This attacker was special though, and burst into a cloud of bugs as soon as Naruto punched him. '_Shit! Aburame,'_ cursed Naruto. The bugs made to wrap around Naruto, but he used a Kawarimi and they only consumed a log.

During his training Naruto received extensive information about very many advanced bloodlines, so he knew that he wasn't in the clear yet and that there was probably a bug somewhere on him that was revealing his position. '_I hate using this jutsu,'_ Naruto mentally sighed. He prepped the jutsu that he was going to use, but waited before actually activating it. '_Bugs may be quiet, but with my enhanced senses I can hear the flapping of wings,'_ Naruto concentrated more chakra to his ears. '_There!'_ thought Naruto, but didn't give any outward sign. '_Let's see, he's not attacking so that means he's setting up some sort of trap,'_ Naruto heard some faint shuffling behind him, '_for his partner…'_

Naruto waited for a little bit longer until he heard the Aburame moving, then he activated his jutsu, "Katon: Body Burn," he said and expelled chakra from several points all around his body. His body lit on fire for several seconds, completely giving away his location, but also burning off any bugs that were on him, as well as some of clothes.

Knowing that he had been completely exposed, Naruto used Split and leapt forwards as his clone leapt backwards. Naruto soon came to face-to-face with the bug user, who was still a little surprised that his tactics had been known and was none other than Shino.

"Hey, Shino, how is it going?" asked Naruto politely and even with a small smile. Shino just narrowed his eyes and Naruto heard the bugs moving to attack. "Come now, I have nothing against you. If you just turn and leave I won't chase you; you can get out of here with your life," offered Naruto.

"I am loyal to my village," Shino answered simply.

Naruto sighed, '_I really have nothing against him,'_ and got into a defensive stance.

Suddenly Naruto felt the ground beneath him shake a little, and realized a little to late that the bugs would be attacking from below. '_Shit!'_ thought Naruto as a swarm of bugs burst through the ground and wrapped completely around Naruto. '_Two times in a row, god damn it!'_ cursed Naruto as he quickly went through the same hand seals from just a little while ago, plus a few others. "Chakra Skin," said Naruto and quickly followed up with, "Katon: Body Burn."

A skin-tight armor made of a thin layer of chakra covered Naruto's body before Naruto had activated the Katon jutsu. Almost immediately after the fire shot out from the Naruto, the bugs either dispersed or were burned by the flames. The bugs that did move away, made no move to return to Naruto even after the flames had died down. Surprisingly, most of Naruto's clothes remained unburned, '_Thank you Itachi, for having fire resistant cloth.'_

"Bugs are afraid of fire and burn easily, maybe that's why your clan moved to the Fire Country, so that the fire wielders wouldn't be against you," Naruto calmly dusted himself off.

"It doesn't matter the bugs did their job," said Shino stoically.

"If you're talking about the poison, then you should know that I'm immune to just about all," Naruto smiled cockily. "And those that I'm not immune to just take a little bit of time to filter out of my system."

Shino was startled by Naruto revelation and by the fact that his bugs had just warned him that there was a presence right behind him. Shino jumped away to avoid the imminent attack from behind, but it never came. Instead the real Naruto had opted for a frontal assault knowing that Shino had fallen for his Kage Bushin distraction.

A knee to the stomach greeted Shino in mid-air, followed up by an elbow to the back of his neck. His bugs managed to create a shield to block the elbow hit, but neither Shino nor the bugs anticipated the three needles that Naruto's clone had thrown up at Shino. The needles pierced Shino's neck and he fell to the ground in an unconscious state.

In mid-air, Naruto had felt his Chakra-enforced Kage Bushin break apart, so he wasn't surprised that he was forced to block half a dozen shuriken and kunai, with his katana, only several seconds after he landed. "You're a good shot… Iruka-sensei," said Naruto calmly.

"Naruto," he said in a bitter tone.

"Has it really come down to me and you?" asked Naruto.

"I won't let you destroy this village!" yelled Iruka.

"The village is destroyed with or without me."

"Meaning killing you now would make no difference, is that right?" asked Iruka.

"You know a very prominent figure in Konoha's history once said, 'If the most powerful cannot act accordingly, then they are undeserving of life.' Do you know who he was?" asked Naruto.

Iruka knew that he had heard that line somewhere, a very long time ago, but just couldn't place it. Naruto could see that Iruka was struggling with his memory and decided to help him out, "He was the strongest in all the Leaf."

Iruka's head shot up immediately, "The Yondaime Hokage."

Naruto nodded, "My father."

Iruka nodded sadly, "Yes, but how do you know that line? You weren't even alive back then."

"He wrote me a letter, in which he explained everything," answered Naruto with a sad smirk. "So my advice to you, don't die for the failed and incompetent."

"Failed and incompetent," repeated Iruka, "you mean Konoha?"

"Yes. Just walk away, hell, leave the Shinobi World altogether," suggested Naruto.

"No! If you think I'm going to abandon my home, you are sorely mistaken," yelled Iruka and charged at Naruto.

Naruto easily sidestepped, appeared on Iruka's other side and knocked him down to his knees. Then, using his claws, quickly stripped him of his kunai pouch and shuriken holder.

"I don't want you to die," said Naruto sincerely.

"I will die for my village," said Iruka defiantly, "I will not betray it."

"I will not let you die for the idiots that could not pass my father's test," replied Naruto and pressed several pressure points on Iruka's neck. Iruka lost consciousness instantly and Naruto gently put his body down on the ground, "I'll come back for you, old friend," and he disappeared.

Naruto stood on top of the Yondaime's head and looked out over the burning Konoha village, "Ironic how fire burns leaves…" he said sadly. "Iruka won't join the Sound, not after this, and he probably won't understand why I had to do this. It's alright, I'll transport him to somewhere outside the Shinobi World, hopefully without any memories, but we'll have to see what I can do in that department," Naruto mused out loud.

"Well Dad, this may not have happened how you had wanted... but life is unpredictable. I just hope that I can accomplish the dream that you set up for me..." Naruto sighed. "With destruction comes healing and creation… I wish it were only so simple, but then again these are just overall effects, minute details are never easy."

"The powerful must be kept in check," whispered Naruto. "Funny how both Itachi and the Yondaime found that to be true, yet no one truly understood the meaning behind their words."

_Dear Naruto,  
__  
First of all, I must apologize for the kind of life I forced upon you. I, the Yondaime Hokage of Konoha, was your father, and to protect my beloved Konoha village I was forced to sacrifice not only my life, but the 'life' of my son.  
__  
I really do hope that the village will treat you like a hero, but my common sense is telling me otherwise. The villagers are mostly ignorant and tend to follow the crowd, and there are also many arrogant shinobi clans that will fear the power that I have passed on to you. Why do I love this village? Because of the few honorable and righteous people that can make the difference and keep Konoha highly respected.  
__  
However, I realized long ago that those few are too few, and in order for the whole village to progress the ignorance and arrogance must be done away with. But this kind of change cannot to forced, rather it has to be learned, through many tests and trials. I didn't intend for this to be their first test, mostly because of the magnitude, but it cannot be helped. Their ability to accept you as a person, not a monster or demon, will be their first test and probably last test, for it contains all the components of honorable, righteous and respectable._

Again I am sorry to have to place such a heavy burden upon your shoulders, but this must be done, for the good of the world. You are to be their judge and deal out the punishment for failure, if that is to happen. The punishment being the destruction of Konoha. This might seem as a shock to you, but it must be done. After all, if the most powerful cannot act accordingly, then they are undeserving of life. I sincerely hope that you are not reading this in the Hokage's seat, but then again if you are then the test has been passes and you have nothing to worry about.  
_  
On the next page you will find my will, in which I leave you the newly bought estate and everything else I own. The Sandaime keeps insisting that you take your mother's maiden name, while I'd rather have you proudly wear my name, but I will trust his judgment on that issue. I hope you will have the best life a person can have, and that you find that one person for you and love her as dearly as I loved your mother. Best of luck and wishes to you. _

_Love always,  
__Kazami Arashi, the Yondaime Hokage _

_P.S. Always protect your precious people._

Naruto folded the letter back up and sighed deeply, just like he did every time he read the letter. "Well Dad, it's over… Don't worry I didn't have too bad of a life… and I found those precious people to protect."

He looked out over Konoha, the scattered fires still burning, gray smoke rising up into the late afternoon sky. The sun was setting right in front of him, soon the whole village would be swallowed up by the darkness.

"I wonder what tomorrow will bring," Naruto smiled contently as he saw the last rays of sun disappear behind the horizon.

The End

* * *

I had to repost this chapter b/c for some reason ppl thought that this wasn't the end. Sorry if you were expecting more, but this is it.**  
Chapter A/N:  
**This was probably the hardest chapter to title. It took me a good 30min to come up with the final one. The following four were all possibilities:  
Failed Test - too revealing of the ending.  
Full Circle - too vague and just didn't sound right in my head.  
Broken Circle - I just liked the word 'broken' but this title just didnt make enough sense.  
Broken Spiral - I needed to replace 'circle' with something better. And this worked pretty well considering the spiral is a symbol of the Leaf, and it is now broken.  
But I wanted to have a reflection of the test, so I the failed replaced broken and here we are. 

You know it's funny how I coulda sworn I saw ppl beg me not to kill some chars, and as I was writing Chouji's death I suddenly remebered, when to check, but didn't fidn anything... weird... But hey, I left some alive, and others are unaccounted for (meaning use ur imagination). In a war, you don't always find out what happened to so and so; ppl r just... lost.

Yea... I had to emphasize how Sakura died, hence the spacing on that part; though by that point she wasn't a big deal in the fic. I just hate her, and want her to get Mangekyoued in the manga... -sigh- I really do wish.

You know, I got to the end and I realized that I didn't really know what to say in the Yondaime's letter... so I just kinda had to make it up on the fly.

You guys might find this funny: I get halfway through the whole Tenten+Hyuga vs. Onpasaki fight. Only to realize the the Hyuga I had been using (Hanabi) was dead. Well that was a kick in the balls; I was sure I had more chars alive.

**Entire Fic A/N:  
**You know back in June, I was actually going to wait for someone to write a fic about Naruto joining the Akatsuki. Boy that woulda been a long wait.

The evolution of a story as the writer initially sees to the final result is really something. Initial thinking: this was going to be a happy-ending fic; the meeting was going to be successful and they would live happy ever after (aww...)  
But, I just could see what happened after that and so I decided to forsake that line and take the angle of what happens if the meeting doesn't succeed. Well you know the end of that. Though b/c of this change that chapter is really choppy and crappy and screwed up. In retrospect I shulda rethought everything... like maybe moving the Naru/Miya romance to before that and then having her by a Konoha assassin (revenge motive).  
But all in all, I like how the fic turned out. Culd it be better? Of course. Would I rewrite it to make it better? No. My thoughts are elsewhere now, and have been for several months now. I shulda finished the fic a long time ago, but :-/ things just kept getting in the way.

Author's writing experience: while writing the end of Yondaime's letter, just about to sign it, I suddenly realize I completely forgot what I named him. So I got on a search for his name... lol... I've had a few of those moments, where I just completely forget something from an earlier chapter and then must go dig in my own story.

I hope you understood what I meant by "life goes a full circle." Basically that it started with the Yondaime, and him sealing Kyuubi into Naruto and putting into motion the test, and that it ends with Naruto destorying Konoha for failing that test.

Lastly, if you want a responce plz IM me or email me.


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